When Trump was first elected president, but before he took office, Abe immediately flew to the United States as head of state to meet with Trump. They held in-depth, multi-faceted discussions on the Asia-Pacific situation, leading to a " Longzhong Dialogue " between Japan and the United States. He emphasized that the Chinese Communist regime posed the greatest threat to Asia-Pacific and global order and must be addressed with all possible efforts. This led to the concept of creating an Indo-Pacific security architecture. This was the genesis of a series of multi-layered alliances and relationships: for example, the Camp David Accords of Japan, Australia, India, and the United States (Japan, the United States, and South Korea), the US-Philippines alliance, the existing Australia-UKUS alliance, the Japan-US Security Treaty, the Five Eyes Alliance, and the US Taiwan Relations Act, forming an Indo-Pacific security network. Its targets were communist China, Russia, and North Korea, primarily communist China.
Abe once said, "If something happens to Taiwan, it happens to Japan." With this famous statement, former Prime Minister Abe highlighted the pivot and core of the Indo-Pacific architecture and decisively strengthened security guarantees for Taiwan.
Undercurrents weakening the Indo-Pacific security architecture
However, this powerful Indo-Pacific security structure has weakened and declined since Abe's death, especially in recent months.
What are the major events that mark the recent relaxation and decline of what we call the Indo-Pacific security architecture?
When Japan's new Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, assumed power despite being considered pro-China and a weak opponent, he proactively proposed a visit to China, suggesting a visit first before other countries. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was overjoyed. To cope with the US-China conflict during the Trump era, Beijing deliberately softened its stance toward Japan, reversing its stance on the wastewater discharge at Fukuda Island, agreeing to gradually resume imports of Japanese seafood, restoring visa-free travel for Japanese tourists to China, and "recognizing" Chinese military aircraft entering Japanese airspace. On Christmas Day 2024, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya made his first visit to China as Foreign Minister. Before the visit, Iwaya stated in an interview, "I personally don't like the phrase 'Taiwan is in trouble.' Taiwan should be 'not in trouble,' not 'in trouble.'" This indirectly contradicted Shinzo Abe's assertion regarding Japan-Taiwan relations that "Taiwan's trouble is Japan's trouble." Iwaya's public statement was highly appreciated by the CCP.
