It is not enough to play the "Taiwan card" frequently, and the Biden administration also wants to coerce its ally Japan to openly "take sides" in an attempt to stir up the situation in the Taiwan Strait.
On Friday (April 16), Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will meet with Biden at the White House, when the two sides intend to issue a joint statement. The British media "Financial Times" exposed on the 14th that the Biden administration is constantly putting pressure on Suga to urge him to publicly mention Taiwan in a joint statement, but at present Japan is still hesitant about this. Earlier, Japanese media revealed that the joint statement may include so-called "stability in the Taiwan Strait" and other contents.
Screenshot of the Financial Times report
According to the report, the White House hopes to use the Japan-US summit meeting to reinforce the messages recently sent to Chinese mainland by US Secretary of State Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, and Japanese Defense Secretary Nobuo Kishi.
After the "2+2" meeting on foreign and defense affairs in the middle of last month, the four officials incorporated words related to the situation in the Taiwan Strait into the joint statement, declaring that they wanted to emphasize "the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait." Our Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian pointed out at the time that this is just another clear proof of the United States and Japan's treachery and interference in China's internal affairs and a bad example of slander and smear of China.
The report also quoted four people familiar with the matter as saying that the United States hopes to mention Taiwan in the joint statement to be issued by the heads of state of Japan and the United States.
Some Japanese media earlier revealed that the statement may include so-called "taiwan strait stability" and other content. Suga also mentioned this when he publicly interjected the Taiwan issue on April 4, when he also claimed that Japan would cooperate with the United States and use "deterrence" to create an environment in which "Taiwan and the mainland can find a peaceful solution."
However, the report pointed out that at present, There are still differences among Japanese officials on the issue of Taiwan mentioned in the joint statement. According to a person familiar with the matter, some Japanese sources believe that The recent statement issued by Tokyo has sent a "signal" to the Chinese mainland, and repeating these remarks at the level of the Japanese and American summits will only anger Beijing. There is also a section of the view that Japan must stand firmly with the United States.
It is worth mentioning that this move is "extremely rare", and the last time the Japan-US summit joint statement mentioned Taiwan was back in 1969: then Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato and then US President Richard Nixon mentioned in a statement that "Taiwan's security is of vital importance to Japan's security."
In this regard, Joshua Walker, president of the Japan Association, analyzed that Biden now asks Japan to make a more clear and open gesture, "which is different from the previous position that Japan was tough in private, but exercised restraint in public because it did not want to destroy the Olympic Games or Sino-Japanese trade."
Mireya Solís, a Japan expert at the Brookings Institution, a well-known American think tank, said that Suga is likely to respond to the views in the recent statement. If they hadn't used a similar statement in the joint statement, "I think it may be that they don't want to create doubts." The Japanese fear that this will undermine Japan's "carefully planned friendly relations with China" in recent years.
Kurt Campbell, the Senior White House official for Asian affairs who presided over the talks, has recently been engaged in "crazy discussions" with Japanese representatives. Japan's foreign ministry said a joint statement after the summit was still under discussion. A senior Japanese official denied that Japan was reluctant to mention Taiwan.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Joe Biden Infographic
Earlier, US media reported that due to the close economic ties between Japan and Chinese mainland, Japan has long been trying to "meet the source left and right" between Western countries and Chinese mainland. Now the United States intends to "contain" Chinese mainland with its allies, and is therefore keeping a close eye on the Japanese government's statement.
In addition to encouraging Japan to interfere in the Taiwan issue, the United States also wants Suga to make a statement on Japan-ROK relations. As the two Asian neighbors become strained over historical disputes, the United States hopes that Japan and South Korea will repair relations to help them deal with the North Korean issue.
Recently, the Biden administration has begun to play the "Taiwan card" frequently. The U.S. State Department last week issued a new version of the U.S.-Taiwan Guidelines for Engagement, declaring that it would encourage "U.S.-Taiwan engagement" and allow U.S. officials to meet more freely with Taiwanese officials. That was followed on April 14 by Biden sending an "unofficial delegation" of former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd and two former deputy secretaries of state, Richard Armitage and James Steinberg, to Taiwan.
On 12 April, our military dispatched 25 military planes to enter the vicinity of Taiwan for training, which was the largest number of cruise planes since Taiwan's defense department began announcing the dynamics of PLA military aircraft in September last year, and it was also the 10th consecutive day since 3 April that PLA military planes were cruising the airspace around Taiwan.
The US State Department spokesman also accused the mainland of "coercion by force" against Taiwan, and Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, responded by saying that China does not promise to renounce the use of force and reserves the option of taking all necessary measures, which is aimed at interference by external forces and a very small number of "Taiwan independence" separatists and their separatist activities, and is by no means aimed at Taiwan compatriots.
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