INTERVIEW: U.S. Representative Says Resolution to Show Support for Japan Needed

Washington, Dec. 14 (Jiji Press)–The United States needs to express solidarity with Japan including through a Congress resolution amid growing Tokyo-Beijing tensions following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks regarding a possible Taiwan contingency, Ami Bera, a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, said in a recent interview with Jiji Press. “I think Beijing overreacted,” Bera, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said of China’s apparent retaliatory measures in response to Takaichi’s remarks, such as advising its people to refrain from visiting Japan. “Those are not how we resolve these issues.” “We as the United States should stand up and say that’s not acceptable and we have your (Japan’s) back,” he went on to say, adding that the Democrats will continue to seek to work with the Republicans to put out a joint statement or a joint resolution expressing the United States’ support for Japan, which is “one of our closest friends in the world.” “If we let China get away with this, they’ll continue to do more provocative actions,” he said. Takaichi said last month that China’s possible use of force against Taiwan could constitute a so-called survival-threatening situation for Japan, in which the country can exercise its right to collective self-defense. Bera said, “I think she (Takaichi) stated the obvious, which is, it’s in our interest to maintain the status quo.” “Any disruption across the Taiwan Strait will be massively disruptive to the global economy, so, of course, we (the United States) would have to react to it,” as would Japan, the U.S. representative added. “We want to maintain the status quo, which has been beneficial to all countries in the region, in East Asia,” he said, stressing that no country has benefited more from this than China. Last week, Bera and another Democrat sent a joint letter to U.S. President Donald Trump seeking the enhancement of support for Japan in the face of China’s escalating economic and military coercion against the U.S. ally. Bera said he has not heard anything back from Trump. While criticizing China’s use of military radar on Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighters as “very provocative,” he expressed concern over the White House’s limited response to the matter. On whether the Republican side would endorse the possible resolution showing solidarity with Japan, Bera said, “I think they would.” He added, “I’ve had conversations with people inside the administration that recognize the Chinese actions are not appropriate and that Japan is our friend.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]