Highlighting Tokyo’s nervousness about Beijing’s reaction, the move was halted last year after a Japanese media report about the plan, the sources said.
Japan’s defence ministry said that it would only pursue “non-governmental” ties to Taiwan, a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945, that was within the bounds of a 1972 joint statement that recognised Beijing as the sole legitimate government of China.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment when asked about the new defence attache but said it “will continue to deepen cooperation with similar-minded partners such as Japan”.
CONCERN
Beijing’s expanding military presence around the island, which is only 100km from Japanese territory, has unsettled Tokyo. It worries about becoming embroiled in any conflict that could also threaten nearby sea lanes that supply Japan with most of its oil.
On Monday (Sep 11), Taiwan said a Chinese naval formation led by the aircraft carrier Shandong passed 60 nautical miles from its coast on its way to the western Pacific.
Concern about such manoeuvres is spurring calls for Japan to forge security links with Taiwan, including direct military-to-military contact that could help Japan plan for a contingency.
Yet Beijing could see any upgrade of ties as an attempt to interfere in its internal affairs.
In August last year, China responded to a visit to Taiwan by then-US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi with military exercises that included missile strikes in waters close to Japanese islands.
Four months later, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration unveiled Japan’s biggest military buildup since World War Two, with a doubling of defence spending over five years to pay for longer-range strike missiles, the development of an advanced fighter jet, and stockpiles of munitions and spare parts that it would need in a sustained conflict.
In an accompanying national security assessment, his government said peace in the Taiwan Strait was essential for international stability.
China has criticised Japan, the US and other Western nations for adopting what it calls a Cold War mentality.
So far, no senior Japanese government official has visited Taiwan, but several lawmakers have gone there in recent months in a broadening of unofficial travel meant to show support for the island.
That lawmaker diplomacy included a visit by Aso Taro, a former prime minister and vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, last month when he met Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.
At a forum there, Aso said Japan needed to show “resolve to fight” for Taiwan. Beijing said the remark was harmful to “the political foundation of China-Japan relations”.
Source: CNA
