Tokyo lacks due prudence on Taiwan question

Since former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said a "Taiwan emergency" would also be Japan's during his visit to the United States in 2019, the Japanese government has acted, in both open and underhand manners, to belie its avowal that it upholds the one-China policy, a political foundation of Sino-Japanese ties.

The latest instance of this was the remark by Toshiro Ino, Japan's deputy minister of defense, during a recent interview with British media. He said: "If people all over the world have the will to support Taiwan, similar to the way they have supported Ukraine when we witnessed Russia's aggression, then, yes, it would be very possible that we will provide some kind of support to Taiwan", adding "I am not sure at this juncture whether it is going to be defense equipment support or whether it is going to be logistics support".

The Taiwan question is China's internal affair. Beijing would like national reunification to be realized peacefully. But should it have to use force to settle the question, if the Japanese government really provides support to the secessionists on the island, be it military or logistics, it will naturally make Japan an enemy of the Chinese people, again.

The great lengths some Japanese and Western politicians have been going to in a bid to equate the Taiwan question with the Ukraine crisis explains how much they want to confuse the international community over the fundamental differences between the two. So they can directly transpose the tactics they have used in the Ukraine crisis to the Taiwan question. That would entail imposing sanctions on the Chinese mainland, isolating it from the rest of the world, and providing military assistance to the island's secessionists.

These are exactly what the US' China-containment strategy will lead to if the Taiwan question flares up thanks to the continuous provocations of it and its allies. That is why the US is pushing its allies to exploit the Ukraine crisis' "moral values".

With Japan tirelessly acting as its pawn, the US is seeking to sabotage peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific so as to weaken China. While Taiwan is only one of so many pieces on the US board around the world, it is an inalienable territory of China. That means the input, if not sacrifice, that Beijing and Washington are willing to make on the Taiwan question will not be reciprocal at all.

Japanese politicians should be mindful of their words and deeds over the Taiwan question in case they leave their country in the awkward position of being left high and dry as a miscalculating fox behind a paper tiger.