TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — If Taiwan is dragged into a cross-strait conflict, Japan is likely to join, Aso Taro, vice president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said on Wednesday (Aug. 31).

Speaking at a Liberal Democratic Party seminar in Yokohama, Aso said that if Taiwan responds to a Chinese attack, it is likely that Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture and Yoronjima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture will become combat zones and there is a high possibility of war in these areas, according to The Nikkei.

At least in the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the Taiwan Strait, there will definitely be fighting, he said.

During a fundraising party in July, Aso said, "If a major problem took place in Taiwan, it would not be too much to say that it could relate to a survival-threatening situation (for Japan)," according to Kyodo News.

Last year, he pointed out that a “crisis situation" refers to a country with close ties to Japan being attacked by force, thereby forming a "dangerous state that threatens the survival of the Japanese nation and clearly and fundamentally subverts the lives and rights of its citizens," per CNA.