Japan Needs Stronger Economic Security Ties with Partners: Minister

Washington, Jan. 5 (Jiji Press)--Visiting Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, in a speech in Washington Thursday, stressed the need for Japan to strengthen cooperation over economic security with countries such as the United States.

"It is imperative that we strengthen our cooperation across the entire spectrum of fields with like-minded countries that share fundamental values with us" in order to ensure economic security, Nishimura said in the speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S. think tank.

Through the remark, the minister apparently raised alarm over the rise of "authoritarian countries," which is seen including China and Russia.

Nishimura expressed worry about the prolonged nature of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and warned against the "risk involved in relying excessively upon a specific country" for important goods such as energy, which Japan imports from Russia.

The minister also touched on "economic coercion" by China in the form of halting imports from countries with which it has issues.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]