TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A senior official from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is considering visiting Taiwan to discuss defense issues, reports said Saturday (Aug. 20).

Hagiuda Koichi, 58, chairs the LDP’s Policy Research Council, but also served as the country’s minister of economy, trade and industry until early August. Speaking online Friday (Aug. 19), he advocated increased defense spending for Japan, while explaining that as a party official, he would be allowed to visit Taiwan and engage in discussions with the authorities there.

Hagiuda mentioned inflation and energy in the discussion, but nevertheless still named defense as the most urgent issue, CNA reported. He said a unilateral change of the existing situation by force, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, might also happen in Asia.

Under present circumstances, Japan was unable to defend and protect its people’s lives and assets, Hagiuda told the interview, adding that raising the defense budget from the 1.24% of GDP reached in 2021 to 2%, as proposed by the late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, was not enough.