UPDATE (8/23/2021): Brookings has reposted my article (with permission) outside any pay-walls. Please check it out here: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/08/23/has-japans-policy-toward-the-taiwan-strait-changed/

Earlier today I published a piece in the Washington Post‘s “Monkey Cage” (politics) blog drawing on my ongoing research on Japan-Taiwan relations and the U.S.-Japan alliance. Please check it out!

In this short analysis (written for a general audience), I critically engage widespread–and often poorly substantiated–assertions in the global media and commentariat that a few unusually outspoken remarks from Japanese politicians indicate Japan’s official government posture toward the Taiwan Strait has fundamentally changed.

Link and suggested citation:

Adam P. Liff, “Has Japan’s policy toward the Taiwan Strait changed?,” Monkey Cage (Washington Post), August 18, 2021.

A stiff word count ceiling and editors’ preferences meant a lot of critique, evidence, and analysis from my original submission were left on the cutting room floor. But please keep an eye out for more from me on this topic in the not-too-distant future.

P.S. I don’t understand the photo selection, either!