Shiksha Dev |THE DEN|
Shinzo Abe's upfront warning that Tokyo and Washington will not stand by as Beijing attacks Taiwan is a request to President Xi Jinping to tone down his belligerence over Taipei. At a forum organized by a Taiwanese think tank, Abe said, "An armed invasion of Taiwan would be extremely dangerous for Japan.". Japan's relationship with Taiwan is an emergency since it involves Japan and the United States. Beijing, including President Xi Jinping, should recognize this. Abe is the head of the largest faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and is still a very influential figure within the party.
The former prime minister made his statement at the same time that Japan plans to upgrade and extend the range of its cruise missiles to 1000 kilometers from their current capability of 100-200 kilometers. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will deploy the missiles in the second half of this decade, which will include the multi-spectrum capability. By deterring increased missile competition in the Asia Pacific region, Japan is implementing its plan.
The past legacy of Japan will make China and South Korea uncomfortable with this missile development plan, but the fact is that Beijing is in an aggressive mode in the region. The country has already deployed intermediate-range ballistic missiles that can take out any city in Japan and a US base on Guam. China's propaganda media has dubbed these missiles ship killers and Guam killers.
China has already indicated that it would use force in an attempt to change the status of Taiwan. However, the Biden administration is considering deploying an intermediate-range ballistic missile network on the first Island chain connecting Okinawa (which has a US base) to Taiwan and the Philippines.
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