Chinese Balloons Prompt the Need for Japan-Taiwan Intelligence Sharing: Japan’s Ex-defense Minister

Then-Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera delivers a speech during the graduation ceremony for the National Defense Academy in Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture, on March 18, 2018. Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images

A former Japanese defense minister said the recent sightings of suspected Chinese spy balloons around the world had underlined the need for intelligence sharing between Japan and Taiwan on aerial threats.

Former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said that while Japan and Taiwan cannot cooperate directly due to the absence of formal diplomatic ties, they can coordinate with the United States to share information.