Instapundit links to a Substack column by Mark Simon concerning Japan's military providing assistance to Taiwan. Simon reports as follows.
With Japanese military advisors in Taiwan discussing how to beat a Chinese blockade of Taiwan, and there now being a couple of billion dollars of new long range weapons positioned in the southern Nansei islands, just north of Taiwan, it’s safe the say Japan’s strict neutrality is a policy of the past when it comes to Taiwan’s defense.
PLA commanders now see a significant military force located less than 130 miles north of Taiwan with an ability to cover the straits with ground based anti-ship missiles, submarines, and air power.
If Xi makes a go for Taiwan, his military commanders are going to take a serious look at taking out Japanese military assets in the area. That means Japan is all in, and so are we. (emphasis added)
I'll freely admit I didn't know Japan had moved this far in support of Taiwan, but I'm not entirely surprised. Let me tell you why, with a bit of history.
In the lead-up to World War II Japan invaded China and, after the war began, invaded much of the rest of East Asia. When they lost in 1945 they went home, leaving behind almost everywhere bitter hostility resulting from Japanese brutality to occupied peoples.
I write "almost everywhere" because in 2-3 visits to Taiwan I found people there atypically were not especially anti-Japanese. My guess is is that Japanese occupiers encouraged the locals to view themselves as Taiwanese, not as Chinese.
That's a view that is somewhat widespread in Taiwan today, especially among those whose ancestors were already in Taiwan prior to the arrival of Chiang's Nationalists in 1948. Chiang retreated there after being defeated by Mao's CCP on the mainland.
Process note: I am somewhat concerned Simon doesn't cite his sources for the Japanese military activity he alleges has happened. He likewise doesn't establish his bonafides as an expert on the region and he has no Wikipedia bio.
