Tokyo [Japan], September 11 (ANI): Japan and Taiwan face a growing military threat from China and should continue strengthening their defensive capabilities to protect their democratic systems, China-born Japanese lawmaker Hei Seki said, according to a Central News Agency (CNA) report.
Speaking at a seminar in Taipei on Japan-Taiwan security cooperation, Seki cited an old Chinese saying to describe the close relationship between Japan and Taiwan amid China's expansionism.
“If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold,” Seki said, emphasising that Japan and Taiwan are closely connected and that an attack by Beijing on one would pose an immediate danger to the other, the CNA report said.
“As long as the Chinese Communist Party regime exists, it will never give up on invading Taiwan and Japan,” Seki said.
Seki argued that both Japan and Taiwan have pledged to significantly increase their defence spending because peace can only be achieved through strength. He also called for Japan, Taiwan and the United States to further strengthen their security alliance as a means of deterring Chinese aggression, according to the CNA report.
Seki, a member of the Japan Innovation Party in the House of Councillors, Japan’s upper house of parliament, was born in China. He graduated from Peking University before moving to Japan to study in 1988, a year before the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.
He became a naturalized Japanese citizen in 2007 and later worked as a university lecturer and political commentator before entering politics.
In September 2025, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced sanctions against Seki over his China-critical stance, his support for Taiwan and his visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honours Japan’s war dead, including convicted World War II war criminals.
The sanctions included a ban on entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau, the CNA report said.
At the same seminar, another member of Japan’s House of Councillors, Haruo Kitamura of the Conservative Party of Japan, also called for a stronger security alliance between Japan, Taiwan and the United States.
Kitamura said the three-way cooperation was necessary to achieve an ideal promoted by late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
According to the CNA report, Kitamura said Abe was the first to propose the concept of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific region that is “free, open, and inclusive.” However, Kitamura argued that the vision cannot be achieved if peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are threatened.
Kitamura described Taiwan as a close friend of Japan “like family,” while calling the United States an important ally.
“Should the three countries form a steadfast and strong alliance, together we can face any form of challenge,” he said.
The remarks were made during a half-day seminar on Japan-Taiwan security cooperation organised by the Taipei-based Indo-Pacific Strategy Thinktank, the CNA report said.
Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said Taiwan, Japan and other countries along the First Island Chain should no longer be viewed as isolated points of defence amid escalating military coercion by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Instead, Lin said, the countries should be regarded as part of a “single theater” in which regional partners jointly maintain resilience.
Lin also highlighted the growing importance of unmanned systems in this regional security framework. He said Taiwan and Japan are currently working together to complement each other’s strengths in developing unmanned systems.
According to the CNA report, Lin said the objective was to establish a “non-red supply chain” while providing capabilities for joint disaster response and defensive deterrence.
The comments from the Japanese lawmakers and Taiwan’s foreign minister underscored calls for closer security cooperation between Japan, Taiwan and the United States amid concerns over China’s military activities and regional security. (ANI)
Japan, Taiwan must strengthen defences against growing Chinese threat: Japanese lawmaker
