The ruling alliance failed August 25 to reach an agreement on reviewing guidelines for Japanese-U.S. defense cooperation and will resume final discussions August 26.
Policy chiefs of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party and New Party Sakigake will meet to produce a joint statement that may include different opinions if a consensus is not reached, according to the LDP's policy chief, Taku Tamasaki. The policy chiefs postponed a meeting with the Chinese ambassador to Japan slated August 26 to discuss the outcome of their talks.
The failure to reach agreement is seen due to opposition from the SDP. The party is demanding that the alliance clarify that Japan will respect a 1972 Japan-China statement acknowledging Taiwan's problems as internal affairs of China when the bilateral defense guidelines are revised. China is concerned that areas to be covered in an emergency under the guidelines will include the Taiwan Strait. The SDP is also calling for mechanisms that the U.S. and Japan can use to clarify whether a situation is an emergency.