Taiwan rallies behind Japan in 'sushi diplomacy' amid rising China pressure

Lily Kuo & Pei-Lin Wu

  With sushi lunches and chocolate bars adorned with the face of Japan’s new prime minister, Taiwanese businesses, officials and citizens are rallying to support their neighbour as it faces pressure from Beijing over remarks that Tokyo could intervene militarily to defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack.

 

After Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan said this month that an attempt by Beijing to take over Taiwan could trigger a military response from Japan, Beijing has sent military ships to patrol disputed waters near Japan, advised its citizens not to travel to the country, and signalled that it would restrict imports of Japanese seafood.

 

This is painfully familiar territory for Taiwan, which has faced increasing economic and military threats as China has sought to isolate it from international support. And Japan has seen a resumption of public support for Taiwan in the face of Beijing’s insistence that the island democracy is part of China’s territory. When Beijing banned imports of Taiwanese pineapples in 2021, Japan ordered a record 19,000 tons of the fruit that year, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — Takaichi’s political mentor — posed with a Taiwanese pineapple.

 

Now Taiwan is eager to return the favour. The government in Taipei has lifted all restrictions on imports of Japanese food, including seafood, that had been in place since the Fukushima nuclear meltdown in 2011.

  A day before that announcement on Friday, Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, posted a video of himself eating a plate of sushi that included scallops from the Japanese island of Hokkaido and yellowtail from Kagoshima in southern Kyushu. “What are you guys eating? Maybe now is a good time to eat Japanese food,” he said, without mentioning Takaichi’s remarks. 

 

The president said his sushi lunch, which included local cuttlefish and tamagoyaki made from Taiwanese eggs, was a demonstration of the two countries’ “firm friendship.” In Hsinchu, the home of the chip-making giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, a former county councilor pledged to give a thousand local residents 18,000 yen each, about $114, to use while travelling in Japan.  

 

Other Taiwanese politicians have posted photos of themselves on social media eating sushi or loading up on groceries at the Japanese supermarket Lopia, which has outlets in Taiwan. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday called on citizens to eat sushi and drink Japanese beer, posting an emoji of Taiwan’s flag, followed by a heart and an emoji of Japan’s flag.

 

One of Taiwan’s largest food companies, I-Mei Foods, is also considering mass producing a limited-series chocolate bar that features pictures of Takaichi on its wrapper. 

 

Japan and Taiwan have gotten closer in the face of China’s expanding military presence in the region. Analysts in Taiwan say that is a significant factor in a call from Xi to President Trump on Monday, in which the Chinese leader stressed the importance of “Taiwan’s return to China.”