Japan says Beijing’s military supremacy over Taiwan growing swiftly

Tokyo’s annual defence white paper said the military balance between Beijing and Taipei is ‘rapidly tilting to the economic giant’s favour’

The report also called China a ‘greatest strategic challenge’ and expressed concerns about its close security ties with Russia

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Taiwanese soldiers take part in a military drill in New Taipei City on July 27. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:44am, 28 Jul 2023Updated: 4:00pm, 28 Jul 2023

The military balance between mainland China and Taiwan is “rapidly tilting to China’s favour,” Japan said in its annual defence report released on Friday, amid tensions over the self-ruled island that Beijing considers its territory.

The defence ministry’s 2023 white paper, received by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida the same day, said there is increasing global concern about China’s intensifying “coercive military activities” in the skies and waters surrounding Taiwan.

In last year’s report, Tokyo said that the military balance between Beijing and Taipei was “tilting to China’s favour, and the gap appears to be growing year by year.”

The white paper was released amid an intensifying rivalry between the United States and China over issues such as Beijing’s provocative military actions near Taiwan.

Beijing regards the island as a breakaway province to be brought under mainland control – by force, if necessary. Many countries, including the US, do not officially recognise Taiwan as an independent state but oppose the use of force to change the status quo.

A contingency involving Taiwan is a particularly concerning prospect for Japan, a US ally, given the proximity of its southwestern islands, including the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

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