Close on the heels of senior US officials visiting Asia including India, MPs from the US, Japan, and Taiwan held an inaugural policy dialogue on Thursday to discuss Chinese expansionism in the Indo-Pacific region.
“What happened in Hong Kong must never happen in Taiwan. I find unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the South China Sea and the East China Sea concerning,” former Japanese Shinzo Abe said, referring to the Chinese crackdown on Hong Kong.
The newly formed trilateral of Japan, US, and Taiwan held strategic talk virtually, hosted by the Japan-Republic of China Diet Members’ Consultative Council. Shinzo Abe is an advisor to the council.
Abe advised the US and Taiwan to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership for economic cooperation between the trio. He supported Taiwan’s bid to join the World Health Organization as an observer.
Bill Hagerty, a former American ambassador to Japan, was also part of the virtual meet. You Si-Kun, president of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, emphasized the need for support from other democracies.
