Japanese lawmakers visit Taiwan for talks on how to prepare for conflict

The members of a parliamentary security group meet the island’s leader Tsai Ing-wen and discussed ways the two sides could plan their response

Beijing has stepped up its efforts to pile pressure on Taipei and has warned it will ‘take forceful measures’ if US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits

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Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen exchanges gifts with former Japanese defence minister Shigeru Ishiba. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00pm, 28 Jul 2022

A high-level Japanese group is visiting Taiwan to discuss ways to prepare for a possible conflict as Beijing intensifies its sabre-rattling.

“To maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region … we need to think ahead about what kind of situation would happen,” former Japanese defence minister Shigeru Ishiba said during a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen at her office in Taipei on Thursday.

“And after it happens, we should think about what agreements or laws or military actions should be employed to contain that situation.”

Ishiba and another former defence minister Yasukazu Hamada were leading a cross-party delegation that also included former deputy defence chief Akihisa Nakashima and Takayuki Shimizu, a member of the upper house, for a four-day visit that began on Wednesday.

The four are all members of a parliamentary security group jointly founded by Ishiba and Hamada in 2019.

Ishiba said both Japan and Taiwan must reach an understanding of what they must do before any conflict erupts.

He said Japan had a responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and was working closely with the United States to prevent conflict.

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