TOKYO: Germany and Japan pledged closer defence relations and cooperation on diversifying supply chains as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met in Tokyo on Saturday.
Scholz is on his second visit to Japan in less than a year along with six ministers for government-to-government negotiations as Berlin works to bolster its profile in the Asia-Pacific region and before the G7 summit being hosted this May by Japan in Hiroshima.
The leaders outlined few concrete results, but both emphasized the need to strengthen and diversify supply chains affected by everything from the pandemic to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“In our conversations about economic security, we discussed beefing up supply chains,” said Kishida.
Both countries want to strengthen “their influence in strategic sectors, including semiconductors and batteries, mineral resources, and share best practices to address risks,” Kishida said.
Bitten by its dependence on Russian energy since the invasion of Ukraine, Germany has been making efforts to pivot away from other economic dependencies, particularly China.
Germany has also been ramping up overtures to Asian countries, including Japan, India, and Indonesia, as it tries to diversify its exports and supplies alike.
Bilateral relations between Germany and Japan
Chancellor Scholz said relations with Japan had been boosted to a “new level” in Saturday’s talks and that both nations were keen to learn the “right lessons” from the economic reliance revealed by Covid pandemic disruptions and the war in Ukraine.
Kishida, amid a diplomatic blitz including talks with the leaders of India and South Korea, said the Ukraine war had made it all the more significant for Japan and Germany to enhance security cooperation.
A joint statement issued by both the defence ministers said they would work on new deployments by Germany’s military in the region and joint exercises.
They also pledged “a legal framework facilitating joint activities” by both militaries.
Scholz said the German military would tour the Asia-Pacific region “in coming years”.
German and Japanese fighter jets carried out joint exercises in Japan last September.
