Taiwan front runner Lai says Japanese support could help deter Beijing – South China Morning Post Feedzy

The Taiwanese vice-president and front runner in next year’s presidential election, William Lai Ching-te, has said Japan should work with Taipei on regional security because it would be threatened if mainland China “invaded and annexed” the island.

“Taiwan is in a key [geographical] position … and we will fulfill our responsibilities, demonstrate our determination to protect the country and work with the camp of democracies to exert deterrence,” he told the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun in an interview published on Thursday.

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“Japan is also in the Indo-Pacific region. If China invaded and annexed Taiwan, the Taiwan Strait would become the internal waters of China, which surely will threaten Japan.”

Lai, the candidate of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, is currently leading in the polls ahead of January’s presidential election, when the incumbent Tsai Ing-wen must step down after completing her two terms.

When discussing security in the Asia-Pacific in the interview, Lai raised Beijing’s frequent military exercises in the East China Sea, South China Sea, Taiwan Strait and the Sea of Japan, which is also known as the East Sea.

He said security cooperation between Japan and Taiwan would benefit the entire Asia-Pacific.

He did not say what form security cooperation could take, but said in a separate interview with the public broadcaster NHK that “any cooperation that could be had, can be had”.

In the interview with Yomiuri Shimbun, a transcript of which was published by the DPP, Lai also rejected the 1992 consensus, a supposed semi-official agreement between mainland China and Taiwan.

Beijing insists that the formula – which states there is “one China” although the parties may disagree what that means – must be the basis for cross-strait relations.

Lai said Taiwan was already “sovereign and independent”, citing the fact that the island holds presidential elections, and added that it was his job to safeguard its sovereignty.

“If Taiwan accepts the 1992 consensus, it amounts to giving up its sovereignty,” Lai said. “Without sovereignty, there will be no democracy, no freedom and no human rights. So, mainstream public opinion in Taiwanese society will not accept it. Taiwan is not part of the People’s Republic of China.”

Beijing has repeatedly attacked Lai, saying he supports Taiwanese independence. Beijing views the island as a breakaway province that must be brought under its control – by force if necessary. Most countries do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but many are opposed to any forcible change in the status.

The People’s Liberation Army has been stepping up its exercises in the Taiwan Strait over the past year or so, with warplanes and ships approaching the island on a nearly daily basis.

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The PLA has also ramped up the frequency and scale of its drills to include flights on the east side of Taiwan, once thought to be harder to attack from the Chinese mainland because it is protected by a mountain range.

The planes have also crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait, a de facto border that Beijing no longer recognises.

Lai is leading in multiple island-wide polls except for a scenario where his two main opponents, Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party and the Kuomintang candidate Hou Yu-ih, join forces to run on the same ticket.

That idea has been floated in recent weeks because of fears of vote-splitting among opponents of the DPP, although 10 to 30 per cent of respondents did not choose between Lai and a joint opposition ticket.

Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of the electronics firm Foxconn, is also running as an independent after he failed to secure the KMT nomination.