Japanese parliamentarians in Taipei: technological and political alliance

A delegation of 43 members of parliament from Tokyo in Taiwan for National Day on 10 October. They are on the island on an official visit and will take part in the celebrations to strengthen diplomatic and technological relations in an anti-Beijing context. The semiconductor market.

Taipei (AsiaNews) - A bipartisan delegation of over 40 Japanese parliamentarians visiting Taiwan will participate tomorrow, Tuesday 10 October, in the island's National Day celebrations, in memory of the outbreak of the Wuchang uprising which in 1911 triggered the Xinhai revolution which put an end to the rule of the imperial dynasty and led to the Republic of China.

The republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war with the communists of Mao Zedong, who founded the People's Republic of China. Even today, Taiwan is formally known as the Republic of China.

The trip of the Japanese parliamentarians led by Keiji Furuya comes in the context of bilateral efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries, just as significant is the reception they hosted, organized by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

Koichi Hagiuda, political leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, as well as Seishiro Eto, former vice president of the House of Representatives, both took part in the meeting.

During their four-day stay in Taiwan, the Japanese delegation also met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, the president of the Legislative Yuan - i.e. Taiwan's single-chamber parliament - You Si-kun and the president of the Association for Taiwan-Japan Su Jia-chyuan.

The visit also represents - indirectly - an attempt to show the communist regime in Beijing that Taiwan and Japan are allies, as China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be joined by force if necessary.

Likewise, Beijing's growing military assertiveness in the region around the Taiwan Strait, as well as in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, have unnerved Tokyo. After all, any conflict between mainland China and Taiwan could jeopardize the nearby shipping lanes that supply Japan with most of the oil it needs.

These concerns have likely pushed Tokyo to also strengthen military ties with Taiwan, including establishing direct military-to-military contacts that could help Japan with emergency defense plans.

A report, titled “US-Taiwan Relations in a New Era,” published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) stated that Japan's support for Taiwan would be crucial for the United States to safeguard the island in case the China invaded the territory.

Furthermore, approximately 54,000 US soldiers and the headquarters of some key US units such as the Navy's 7th Fleet and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit are based in Japan, on the island of Okinawa: “For the US it would be almost It is impossible to respond promptly and effectively to Chinese aggression against Taiwan without being able to call upon U.S. forces and its facilities in Japan,” the CFR report continues.

In addition to creating military and political deterrents against China, Japan has another interest in strengthening relations with Taiwan: the self-governing island has replaced Japan in dominance of the global chip industry, currently producing around 60% of semiconductors world and over 90% of the most advanced ones.

Most are produced by a single company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC), which dominates 90% of the global market for the most advanced made-to-order chips.

Japanese semiconductor materials makers had a combined share of the global chip market of just 9% last year, compared to their 50% dominance in the late 1980s.

To relaunch itself in this market, Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology is collaborating with domestic semiconductor companies and Taiwan's TSMC to build a line of 2-nanometer chips. An alliance with clear technological connotations - in the military but also civil field.

It is likely that Japan will continue to strengthen relations with Taiwan in the near future, especially in the political and economic fields through bilateral engagements, even though Japan has no formal diplomatic representation in Taiwan.

The way around this problem is bilateral relations maintained through the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in Taipei, which mainly includes reassigned Foreign and Trade Ministry officials.

However, China remains a partner of great strategic importance for Japan, since both countries are economically interdependent both from a socio-cultural and economic point of view. And Tokyo is walking on eggshells with Beijing also because China acts as a balancer in the area, above all as a "brake" to the aims of North Korea's nuclear missiles.

• Tokyo
• Japan
• Taiwan
• Taipei