Japanese Defense Paper Warns Over Taiwan Security for First Time

Taiwanese sailors salute the island's flag on the deck of the Panshih supply ship after taking part in annual drills at the Tsoying naval base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Jan. 31, 2018. Mandy Cheng/AFP via Getty Images

For the first time, Japan has explicitly warned about Taiwan’s security in its annual defense white paper on July 12.

The specific wording on the Taiwan issue in the 2021 defense document is very different from previous years, which carefully avoided any rhetoric that could provoke the Chinese communist regime.