TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan and Japan will strengthen military ties to fend off China following a meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and a senior figure in Japan’s government.

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Policy Research Council Chairman Hagiuda Koichi was in Taipei on Sunday (Dec. 10) for a forum on Taiwan-Japan relations. The discussions included economy and trade, as well as political and cultural subjects.

Meeting Tsai in the Presidential Office, Haguida said Japan was a firm friend and ally. "Taiwan is an extremely important partner and a valued friend of Japan, with whom Japan shares fundamental values such as liberal democracy, basic human rights, and the rule of law, as well as close economic relations and personal exchanges,” Reuters quoted Haguida as saying.

"In this context, our help and cooperation with one another has built up over time."

Tsai thanked Japan for its continued support of Taiwan. "We have seen in recent years Taiwan-Japan relations have become ever closer."

"In the future, Taiwan will continue to deepen cooperation with Japan in various fields such as security and work together to ensure the freedom, openness and stability of the Indo-Pacific region."

Haguida said at the forum that Japan needed to increase defense spending to meet the “grim reality” of threats from China and North Korea. He added that though Japan had been walking the path of peace since World War II, “just reciting the word peace is of course not enough.”

He reiterated this by adding the LDP was preparing to raise defense spending within the next five years from the current 1% of gross domestic product to 2%. This would give Japan the third largest military budget in the world after the U.S. and China, at US$80 billion a year.