Tokyo, July 16 (CNA) The lack of a mechanism to facilitate direct security dialogue between Taiwan, Japan and the United States is a major concern, the president of a Taiwanese think tank said Sunday at the conclusion of a two-day tabletop war games event held in Japan.
The event was the first unofficial collaborative effort of its kind between the three countries since the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies first organized the exercise in August 2021.
The simulation focused on an attack and blockade of Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and on the battlefield management and collaborative defense mechanisms that would be put in place should a conflict break out in the Taiwan Strait.
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After participating in this year’s event, Lai I-chung (???) of the Taipei-based Prospect Foundation told CNA that a (security) mechanism for communications between Taiwan and Japan was currently “almost non-existent.”
Citing Saturday’s tabletop war games as an example, Lai said events such as simulated humanitarian evacuation efforts were carried out in more of an ad hoc manner which had resulted in many problems and difficulties.
He highlighted President Tsai Ing-wen’s (???) call in 2019 that direct high-level security talks between Taiwan and Japan were crucial.
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Through the tabletop simulation, Lai said he also learned how the Japanese government took many different matters into consideration when making decisions, which is contrary to how some high-level officials in Taiwan had believed the country was likely to simply follow U.S. direction.
During the simulation, the Taiwan side was led by Lai, with Taiwanese observers including Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) Chairman Huoh Shoou-yeh (???), INDSR Deputy CEO Lee Ting-sheng (???), and INDSR’s Division of Defense Strategy and Resources Director Su Tzu-yun (???).
On the question of the establishment of a security dialogue mechanism between Taiwan, Japan and the U.S., Kihara Minoru, a lawmaker in the ruling Japanese Liberal Democratic Party, said at a press conference that while Japan and the U.S. have an alliance, the biggest problem is the lack of a formal relationship between Japan and Taiwan.
Minoru, who acted as Japanese defense minister during the two-day tabletop war games, said various exchanges had still been carried out through the Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council, although at an unofficial capacity due to the absence of formal diplomatic relations.
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It is important for Japan, the U.S. and Taiwan to formulate a security dialogue mechanism, he said, adding that everyone involved would seek an appropriate time to address the issue.
Meanwhile, the U.S. side was represented by Kevin Maher, the former head of the Office of Japan Affairs at the State Department, who acted as the country’s president during the two-day war game simulation.
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