Japan has been increasingly focused on economic security, appointing a minister in charge of pursuing it and passing a bill on building resilient supply chains for key critical goods such as rare earths. In a new National Security Strategy published in December, Kishida’s government vowed to "curb excessive dependence on specific countries.”Germany is in the final stages of drafting its own national security strategy in which economic resilience and reducing one-sided dependencies in areas such as energy and raw materials will also play a key role. China is expected to be described as an international partner, economic competitor and systemic rival.Scholz’s focus on Japan is not a coincidence as he has repeatedly stated that democratic nations must work more closely together to counter the influence of economic rivals with different political systems.While the German leader has rejected an economic decoupling from China, he has urged companies to diversify their business ties in Asia. That is challenging because Germany’s trade links with China have been formed over decades.German carmakers and their suppliers are trying to secure direct access to raw materials such as lithium and cobalt needed in the production of battery cells for electric vehicles.Japan has been increasingly focused on economic security, appointing a minister in charge of pursuing it and passing a bill on building resilient supply chains for key critical goods such as rare earths. In a new National Security Strategy published in December, Kishida’s government vowed to "curb excessive dependence on specific countries.”Germany is in the final stages of drafting its own national security strategy in which economic resilience and reducing one-sided dependencies in areas such as energy and raw materials will also play a key role. China is expected to be described as an international partner, economic competitor and systemic rival.Scholz’s focus on Japan is not a coincidence as he has repeatedly stated that democratic nations must work more closely together to counter the influence of economic rivals with different political systems.While the German leader has rejected an economic decoupling from China, he has urged companies to diversify their business ties in Asia. That is challenging because Germany’s trade links with China have been formed over decades.German carmakers and their suppliers are trying to secure direct access to raw materials such as lithium and cobalt needed in the production of battery cells for electric vehicles. QUOTE Japan and Germany working together is a positive step that could benefit COB in the future IMO
