Photo/Illutration Taro Aso, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks at an event sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress in Washington on Jan. 10. (Ayako Nakada)

WASHINGTON--Former Prime Minister Taro Aso said a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait would lead Japan to exercise its right of collective self-defense including taking steps to protect the lives of Japanese nationals. 

“There is an extremely strong possibility that the government will conclude Japan’s very existence is at stake (if a military conflict broke out in the Taiwan Strait),” he told reporters here on Jan. 10.

The comment from Aso, currently the vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, followed a speech he gave at an event sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, a think tank. 

A situation in which Japan’s existence is in peril after a close ally, such as the United States, comes under attack is one condition for the government to move to use military force and exercise the right to collective self-defense.

In his earlier speech, Aso added there was a need to heighten international deterrence to prevent China from invading Taiwan.

Aso pointed out to reporters that if a military conflict arose in the Taiwan Strait, Maritime Self-Defense Force ships would have to be sent to Taiwan to evacuate Japanese nationals.

“China must understand what steps Japan might take (if fighting breaks out over Taiwan),” Aso said.

While Aso said in his speech that greater international deterrence was needed to prevent a Chinese invasion, he also expressed hope for peaceful dialogue between Beijing and Taipei.

Since 2022, Aso has visited a number of nations, including Taiwan, South Korea and Australia. He began his current visit to the United States on Jan. 9.

He told reporters that the worsening national security environment near Japan, including around the Taiwan Strait, “is something that was not imaginable 30 or 40 years ago.”

He said that he was visiting various allies because he felt there was a need to stress the importance of greater cooperation to restrain China.

With the Taiwan presidential election set for Jan. 13, Aso said that he hoped all the candidates were fully aware of what needed to be done should fighting break out in the Taiwan Strait.

Aso also said the relationship with the United States had to be maintained and added that the U.S. president to be elected in November “must fundamentally place importance on shared values” such as democracy and a free economy.