News Japan is most favourite country in Taiwan

[thomas]

In a survey that has been conducted seven times since 2008, Japan is again the most favourite country among Taiwanese. Some 1,000 people aged 20-80 said that Japan was the nation with which they most wanted to develop friendly ties.

For the question on which country or region they like the most, Japan was chosen by a record 60 percent of respondents, breaking the earlier high of 59 percent who picked Japan in the previous survey in fiscal 2018. A record high ratio of 46 percent also chose Japan as the country or region they most want to be friendly with. That was up from 37 percent in the fiscal 2018 survey. China was the second "most liked country or region," but it was chosen by only 5 percent of respondents, down from 8 percent in the fiscal 2018 survey. The United States was selected by 24 percent of respondents as the country or region that Taiwanese should most be friendly with, up from 15 percent. The United States placed second behind Japan in this category.

And here's one of the reasons:

Japan also increased imports of Taiwanese pineapples after China banned them last year. These and other moves by Japan likely led to the more positive view about the country from Taiwanese.

Survey: Taiwan’s fondness for Japan reaches record high | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[johnnyG]

I think he's been saying this for a while, just another instance of that, but I was reading something earlier--Abe wrote a column (opinion piece) saying that the US should declare in some way, unambiguously, that it would defend Taiwan.

 

[thomas]

I think he's been saying this for a while, just another instance of that, but I was reading something earlier--Abe wrote a column (opinion piece) saying that the US should declare in some way, unambiguously, that it would defend Taiwan.

Hasn't Mr Biden already committed to defending Taiwan in case of an invasion? Or was this just another statement à la "regime change in Russia"?

 

[johnnyG]

Yes, Biden has said that in one way or another, but it seems that when he does someone else near him walks it back a little--which in Abe's eyes makes the statement less clear/forceful than he would like.

**

Ukraine should give the CCP pause. Tho Russia may have botched it, even invading/toppling a country right next door--that you can drive to, and that you effectively almost have surrounding land border to begin with--may not go as planned. And their military, at least up to a couple months ago, would have gotten pretty high marks.

Crossing water to do something similar (to get to Taiwan) is a very different ballgame, and tho China has missiles and an air force, and could undoubtedly blow lots of things up, its navy is not its strong point. Even their invasion of Vietnam went badly (which could have been a lesson for Russia in Ukraine)--a supposedly overwhelming force that was severely bloodied. That was decades ago, and while there's been a lot modernizing and money spent, China's military is otherwise untested (I don't think skirmishes in the Himalayas count). As Mike Tyson said, everyone has a plan until you're hit in the face.

Similarly, the Koreas. On the one side, even with nukes, Kim should realize (maybe does?) that conquering/assimilating the south is just not ever going to be possible. And on the other, hopes that the north will somehow collapse, or that a war would be quick--or that a 'decapitation' strategy might work--should be taken with a grain of salt. This should comfort China, since what it looks at as its DPRK "buffer" isn't going to just disappear.

What has happened in Ukraine also shows the importance of practice. Eg, US/ROK yearly military exercises, along with anything with Japan/US. It's one thing to have x-number of hypersonic missiles and stealth aircraft, managing those in a war is something else.