Reported Kyodo, Japan and the United States are to discuss in February joint plans for their troops to deal with a potential stand-off between China and Taiwan. Kyodo said the discussions were thought to reflect the wishes of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is considered to be pro-Taiwan. Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, told parliament in 2005 that Japan did not anticipate providing military cooperation to the United States during any crisis in the Taiwan Strait.
For decades Washington continued to back the anti-communist government on Taiwan before switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979. But under the U.S. Taiwan Relations Act it would be obliged to defend the island against any Chinese attack. (Source: Reuters, Jan 4, 2007).