By HARUNA SHIROMI/ Staff Writer
August 8, 2023 at 18:48 JST
Taro Aso, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, makes a speech in a hotel in Taipei on Aug. 8. (Haruna Shiromi)
TAIPEI—Taro Aso, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Japan and other countries should show they are prepared to fight China to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
“Like-minded countries, led by Japan, Taiwan and the United States, should be prepared to set a very powerful deterrence into motion,” Aso, a former prime minister, said in a speech at a hotel here on Aug. 8. “It is the resolve to fight.”
In the speech, Aso expressed a sense of vigilance against China’s military exercises and other moves around Taiwan.
“The peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are important to the stability of the international community, let alone that of Japan,” he said. “What is most important is not to allow war to break out in this region, including the Taiwan Strait.”
Aso said there are concerns within the Fumio Kishida administration about a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
“It is not enough to spend money and possess defense capability,” he said. “It will become a deterrence when we let it be known to the other side that we have a focused intention to use it for maintaining the stability of the Taiwan Strait.”
He said Japan’s resolute attitude will remain unchanged even after the Kishida administration.
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