Taiwan and Japan’s ruling parties held 2+2 talks Wednesday on security and foreign policy. The meeting, held at Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headquarters in Tokyo, brought DPP legislators Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) and Puma Shen (沈伯洋) together with LDP House of Representatives members Hisayuki Fujii and Hitoshi Kikawada to discuss East Asian security, economy, trade, and cognitive warfare.
Both sides agreed that a Taiwan contingency would be a crisis for Japan, and vice versa, a strategic vision proposed by former Japanese President Shinzo Abe. They reaffirmed their strong opposition to any unilateral efforts to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait through force or coercion and stressed the importance of practical cooperation between Taiwan and Japan in combating fraud and information warfare.
Kuo said the collaboration between Taiwan's Coast Guard and Japan's Coast Guard, initiated in July and including maritime policing, rescue operations, and crime prevention, has been successful and advocated for further expansion of this partnership. He also proposed that Japan remove barriers to bilateral exchanges, drawing on the example set by the U.S.’s Taiwan Travel Act.
Shen said that increasing military pressure from China poses significant security concerns for both Taiwan and Japan. He pointed out that Taiwan has valuable experience and research to share with Japan on China’s information warfare. Shen also called for deeper Taiwan-Japan collaboration to counter cognitive warfare and gray zone operations across various sectors.
Regarding the threat posed by China, Kuo said Taiwan has increased its defense budget and made legislative efforts to counter Chinese influence. On the topic of economic security, Kuo thanked Japan for its ongoing support for Taiwan's Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) bid and suggested initiating negotiations similar to the U.S.-Taiwan trade initiative.
After the official talks, additional DPP legislators met with LDP officials to discuss further strengthening Taiwan-Japan relations. Both sides agreed to hold the next 2+2 meeting in Taiwan.