Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida posing during a meeting at Mariinsky Palace in Kiev. Photo: VCG

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to Ukraine exaggerates the dangerous narrative of "Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow" through a joint statement to create momentum for Japan's intervention in major international events including the Ukraine crisis, further sensationalizing the so-called geopolitical and military threats from China, thereby playing up tensions and instability in the region, said experts on international affairs.

The Japanese prime minister met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on Tuesday during a rare, unannounced visit that underscored Tokyo's emphatic support for Ukraine by providing $30 million in nonlethal equipment, humanitarian supplies and financial support, Reuters reported. 

According to their joint statement released on Wednesday, the leaders of Japan and Ukraine raised "concerns" about China's moves in the Taiwan Straits.

Kishida's unexpected visit to Ukraine not only shows the so-called Japanese position in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but also Japan's use of the conflict to create favorable chips for itself in regions including the Taiwan Straits and to expand its international influence, Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"The Japanese leader is clearly setting the stage for the G7 Hiroshima summit he will host by playing up the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a major topic, even at the cost of tying the future of Ukraine to the situation in the East China Sea, the South China Sea and even the Taiwan Straits," he said.

Observers noted that Japan is trying to exaggerate the dangerous narrative of "Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow," thereby creating momentum for Japan's intervention in major international events.

It is a dangerous exaggeration that reflects Japan's potential nearing of the edge of war, Da warned.

Global Times