Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Abe killing raises security concerns

Lin Han 林志翰

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot while delivering a campaign speech in Nara, Japan, on the eve of the Japanese House of Councilors elections. The tragic news shocked the world. Abe, who had always been a strong supporter of Taiwan, gained much respect from Taiwanese, who grieve his passing.

Abe was born to a prominent political family. His maternal grandfather Nobusuke Kishi and his great-uncle Eisaku Sato had served as prime ministers, while his father, Shintaro Abe, was a foreign minister.

Shinzo Abe was himself a legendary figure in Japanese politics. When he first took office in 2006 at the age of 52, he was the first prime minister born after World War II and the youngest in the post-war era.

Shock as former Japan PM assassinated

Taipei Times

A woman yesterday prays at a makeshift memorial set up in Nara, Japan, after former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead near the site.
Photo: AFP

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was yesterday assassinated on a street in western Japan by a gunman who opened fire from behind as he delivered a campaign speech.

The 67-year-old Abe, who was Japan’s longest-serving leader when he resigned in 2020, collapsed bleeding and was airlifted to a nearby hospital in Nara, although he was not breathing and his heart had stopped.

NATO creates new space for Taiwan

Joseph Tse-hei Lee 李榭熙

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as tensions in the Taiwan Strait, dominated the agenda of last week’s NATO summit in Madrid. For the first time, NATO leaders complained about the deepening Sino-Russian strategic partnership and the challenge that these adversaries pose to the international order.

As NATO has the Indo-Pacific region in its radar, it is paying closer attention to Taiwan’s security needs. The timing is of great importance because the US has adjusted its Taiwan policy from one of strategic ambiguity to one of strategic clarity.

Yet, in the larger sphere of regional security, Washington has not made a systematic effort to replace the post-World War II system of bilateral alliances with an Indo-Pacific multilateralism.

Xi Jinping, year 2027 and Taiwan

Jerome Keating

Anniversaries can serve multiple functions. For example when Taiwan commemorates the 228 Incident, there is a combined feeling of sadness over the sufferings following the events in 1947, joined with the resolve that such a tragedy should never be allowed to happen again.

This year, when Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) attended the 25th anniversary of the UK’s 1997 handover of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a different and strange mood prevailed. Even stranger yet was Xi’s explanatory narrative.

Those who had attended the historic event in 1997 could recall how festive it had been. Media were everywhere. Hong Kong was to have new leadership; the PRC had promised full democracy by 2017 and many were curious as to what “one country, two systems” would be.

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