U.S. Report Calls Takaichi’s Taiwan Remarks “Significant Shift”

Washington, March 18 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s parliamentary remarks last year on a potential Taiwan contingency marked a “significant shift,” a U.S. government report said Wednesday. The 2026 annual threat assessment of the U.S. intelligence community, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, brought up Takaichi’s statements made last November 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 collective self-defense right. “Her comments represent a significant shift for a sitting Japanese prime minister,” the report said. “In response, China is employing multidomain coercive pressure that probably will intensify through 2026, aimed both at punishing Japan and deterring other countries from making similar statements about their potential involvement in a Taiwan crisis,” it said, warning that Beijing may increase military activities around the Senkaku Islands in the southern Japan prefecture of Okinawa, which are claimed by China. “China probably is concerned that Prime Minister Takaichi’s comments will bolster Taiwan’s independence movement,” it analyzed. The office “assesses that Chinese leaders do not currently plan to execute an invasion of Taiwan in 2027, nor do they have a fixed timeline for achieving unification” of the island into its mainland, the report stated. “Chinese officials recognize that an amphibious invasion of Taiwan would be extremely challenging and carry a high risk of failure, especially in the event of U.S. intervention,” it concluded. China considers Taiwan to be at the center of is core interests. On North Korea, the report said that Pyongyang has benefited from its assistance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “North Korean military forces have gained valuable combat experience in 21st Century warfare along with equipment,” it said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]