Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party and Japan's Liberal Democratic Party held their seventh foreign and defense policy dialogue in Tokyo on Sept. 14, expanding the ruling-party talks from a 2+2 to a 5+5 format. DPP legislators Kuo Kuo-wen, Puma Shen, Wu Szu-yao, Chen Kuan-ting and Kuo Yu-ching met an LDP side that included foreign affairs division chief Kei Takagi and Keisuke Suzuki, head of the party's Taiwan policy project team, CNA reported. Scheduled for about 30 minutes, the meeting ran to nearly two hours.
What did the Japanese side say? The LDP delegation said China's gray-zone coercion of Taiwan, from political, economic and legal pressure to military intimidation, had already begun, and that the priorities were strengthening deterrence and protecting civilians if an emergency occurs. Suzuki cited frequent undersea cable incidents, increasingly active Chinese maritime militia and more frequent military drills, calling the regional situation severe, and said threats to cyberspace and undersea cables were a serious concern, CNA reported. He said Taiwan and Japan needed a deeper shared understanding of the security situation and stronger practical cooperation.
What did the DPP delegation say? Kuo Kuo-wen said Taiwan's recent growth came from semiconductors, artificial intelligence and technology, and from steadily reducing its reliance on the Chinese market since 2016, even as China's security threat to Taiwan kept rising. He called defense security and economic development two sides of the same coin and the dialogue's main theme. Wu said the talks were raised to 5+5 this year with DPP chairman 
Lai Ching-te placing particular importance on them, bringing in members whose expertise is education, science and culture. Shen said China's threats extend beyond conventional military action to lawfare, disinformation, cyberattacks and cognitive warfare, and that Taiwan and Japan should share cases and response experience.
What comes next? Kuo Kuo-wen said after the meeting that cooperation was moving from dialogue toward institutionalization, including setting up cooperation mechanisms and pushing to sign a memorandum of understanding, CNA reported. The two sides also extended their cooperation to drones, undersea cables, medical care, disaster prevention, semiconductor talent training, content industries, education, culture and regional revitalization. Wu said refining exchanges and broadening topics under the 5+5 format would become a new model for cooperation between the two ruling parties.
Figures referenced: Lai Ching-te. — JudgeMarket.
