Japan's Former Prime Minister and current Vice-President of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Taro Aso, speaks during the Ketagalan Forum in Taipei, Taiwan August 8, 2023.
"I believe that now is the time for Japan, Taiwan, the United States and other like-minded countries to be prepared to put into action very strong deterrence," he said in remarks streamed online.
He added that clearly showing the will to defend Taiwan was a form of deterrence.
Aso is the most senior Japanese political official to visit Taiwan since 1972.
In 2021, Aso, then deputy prime minister, called any invasion of Taiwan by China a "threat to Japan's survival" and said Japan and the U.S. would defend Taiwan together should such an incident happen.
Persons:
Taro Aso, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Aso, Japan's, Tsai Ing, Tsai, Sakura Murakami, Satoshi Sugiyama, Kantaro, Ben Blanchard, Chang, Ran Kim, Gerry Doyle
Organizations:
Liberal Democratic Party, REUTERS, Japanese, Thomson
Locations:
Taipei, Taiwan, Japan, United States, Taiwan Strait, China, U.S, TOKYO