|HT|
Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe’s upfront warning to China that Tokyo and Washington will not stand-by if Beijing attacked Taiwan is a message to President Xi Jinping to tone down his belligerence over Taipei. Speaking virtually at a forum organized by a Taiwanese think tank on Wednesday, Abe said: “An armed invasion of Taiwan would be a grave danger to Japan. A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-US alliance. People in Beijing, President Xi Jinping in particular, should not have a misunderstanding in recognizing this.” Abe is head of the largest faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and remains a very influential figure in the party and the Island nation. Former PM Abe’s statement came at a time when Japan has decided to upgrade and extend the capability of its cruise missiles to hit objects over 1000 kilometres from the present capability of 100-200 km. Developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the missiles will be deployed in the second half of this decade with multi-spectrum capability. Essentially, the Japanese plan is to deter the increased missile development competition in the Asia Pacific Region.
(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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