Romberg highlighted the fact that Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, maintained "good interactions" with Taiwan throughout his tenure, for example introducing a visa waiver program for Taiwanese tourists.
"Japan is strategically nervous about Taiwan in the hands of the People's Republic of China. Taiwan, after all, was Japan's colonial success story. In 1941, Taiwan had the second-highest living standard in Asia, second only after Japan," observed Michael McDevitt, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the Center for Naval Analysis.
McDevitt said Japan is now facing an increasingly strong China threatening its position as the leader of Asia. Japan is likely to deepen its dependence on the U.S. in a bid to win the competition with China, he said.
"Japan wants constant reassurance that the United States is not going to abandon Tokyo for Beijing. In return, Japan is interested in reassuring the United States it will be a reliable ally," McDevitt said.
Kelly added, however, that "the United States is not served by Sino-Japanese tension," and called on Washington to act quietly and carefully to try to help resolve the differences.
About Yasukuni, Kelly touched on the fact that the shrine was a governmental enterprise before World War II but became a private organization during the U.S. Occupation that mandated that the shrine be separated from the government. Yasukuni Shrine remains a private religious organization to this day.Monday, Oct. 2, 2006Kyodo News
It will be China that will be more aggressive,trying to get as much gas as possible from the East China Sea. Japan needs to build up stronger military to keep China away
, strong enough to hold up against Chinese aggression without US help.
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