US Navy chief 'not surprised' by Japan PM's concern over Taiwan

US Navy chief 'not surprised' by Japan PM's concern over Taiwan

TOKYO -- Whether Japan will fight side by side with the U.S. in a war to defend Taiwan has always been ambiguous. Prior to 2015, the answer was a solid "no," for the Self-Defense Forces could only be deployed if Japan itself was under an armed attack.

In 2015, the government of then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe passed a suite of security laws that expanded what Japan can do with its SDF. A new situational concept was added -- one that "threatened Japan's survival."

Since the U.S. is responsible for defending Japan under Article 5 of the security treaty, it would be a matter of survival for Japan if the U.S. was attacked, even if outside Japan, the thinking went.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent remarks that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could constitute a "situation threatening Japan's survival" was in line with this legal argument, but the lack of ambiguity has irked the Chinese government. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy's top officer told reporters in Tokyo, "I can't say I'm surprised" by Takaichi's words.

"I can understand the position that it is very concerning to her," Adm. Daryl Caudle said in an interview with Nikkei and other outlets, during his Asia trip.

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  Some voices in Takaichi's government favor changing long-standing principle.