Commentary Change comes slowly in Japan–especially when it involves national defense. But sometimes something happens that causes one to raise an eyebrow. On Aug. 27, two Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politicians, both defense specialists, held virtual “security” discussions with two counterparts from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). This was a first—and an eyebrow raiser. The following commentary discusses the significance of the talks and possible future developments in the Japan-Taiwan defense relationship. How Important Are Japan-Taiwan Security Talks? The fact these talks took place is important in its own right. Japan is showing backbone that would have been unthinkable five years ago. Tokyo has had basically no security relationship with Taiwan—for fear of angering China. But now Japanese LDP politicians are meeting (even if virtually) with Taiwanese counterparts to talk security and national defense. And the Japanese government was very public it, and made no effort to hide …