1 of 3 | Japanese defense and security experts discuss China-Japan tensions over the Taiwan Strait and the direction of U.S.-South Korea-Japan cooperation at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo on Jan. 8, 2026. John Chuan Tiong Lim (L) of the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Advanced Studies on Asia and Masayuki Masuda (R) of Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies. Photo by Asia Today
Jan. 8 (Asia Today) — Japanese defense and security experts meeting in Tokyo on Thursday called for sustained security cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea as tensions between China and Japan sharpen over Taiwan.
Masayuki Masuda, director of the China Center at the National Institute for Defense Studies, a research institute affiliated with Japan’s Defense Ministry, said the priority is to keep deepening trilateral cooperation.
“What is important now is to continue deepening security cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea,” Masuda said during a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
His comments came ahead of an expected South Korea-Japan summit in Japan, with Masuda answering a question from Asia Today about the role Seoul should play as Beijing and Tokyo clash more openly over Taiwan.
Masuda said trilateral cooperation should not be viewed as limited to the Taiwan Strait, pointing instead to a broader security environment that also includes North Korea.
“The situation on the Korean Peninsula, such as the enhancement of North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities, must also be considered,” he said, describing cooperation as a structural necessity rather than a one-off response aimed at a specific country.
Masuda also said trilateral defense cooperation has already progressed, citing recent discussions among the three countries’ defense leaders and what he described as shared concern about China’s military behavior.
At the same time, he rejected the idea that Japan is pressing South Korea to make specific choices because of strained China-Japan ties, saying the focus should remain on what is needed within Japan-South Korea relations and cooperation that includes the United States.
John Chuan Tiong Lim, a researcher at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Advanced Studies on Asia, also spoke during the session and pointed to U.S. policy as increasingly centered on Taiwan’s defense.
Lim said Washington’s public messaging can differ from its policy actions, adding that a Chinese attempt to take Taiwan by force would fundamentally alter the region’s security landscape.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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