German Chancellor Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held their first round of government talks in Tokyo on Saturday, with the two leaders agreeing to strengthen bilateral economic and defense ties to better address China's growing influence and global security concerns.

Fumio Kishida told a joint news conference following the talks that the two sides agreed to strengthen supply chains in minerals, semiconductors, batteries and other strategic areas to "counter economic coercion, state-led attempts to illegally acquire technology and non-market practices," apparently This refers to China.

"Both Japan and Germany are industrial nations that share fundamental values ​​and need global leadership to strengthen the resilience of our societies," said Fumio Kishida, who led six of his 17 cabinet members for talks with their Japanese counterparts

. , which includes the ministers of economy, finance, foreign affairs, interior, transport and defense. They discussed deepening economic and national security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as China's assertiveness in advancing its maritime claims and closer ties with Russia.

Germany has a similar "government consultation" framework with several countries.

In Tokyo, the two leaders reiterated their condemnation of Russia's war on Ukraine and agreed to maintain tough sanctions on Moscow and strong support for Ukraine, Kishida said.

Kishida said Russia's nuclear threat made disarmament of nuclear weapons more difficult and divided the international community. He added that it was crucial to get China, Russia and other nuclear powers back to discussing nuclear disarmament.

Fumio Kishida is an advocate for a world without nuclear weapons, although critics say his position is less convincing under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

According to the Deutsche Presse Presse (DPA) report, Scholz said that the government consultations will "further advance our strategic cooperation, which is a very important part of promoting the close cooperation that we hope to achieve together.

" In separate talks, the minister confirmed the continued involvement of the German Armed Forces in operations in the Indo-Pacific region and the strengthening of military cooperation between the two countries.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius agreed to coordinate closely in joint exercises on the future regional deployment and reinforcement of German troops. Japan's defense ministry said in a statement that they also agreed to seek a legal framework to facilitate increased joint defense activities and cooperation on defense equipment and technology.

Faced with growing threats from China and North Korea, Japan has been expanding military cooperation beyond its main ally, the United States, and has developed partnerships with Australia, Britain, Europe and Southeast Asian nations. Under a new national security strategy adopted by Fumio Kishida's government last year, Japan is deploying long-range cruise missiles to bolster its counterattack capabilities, a major break from Japan's postwar doctrine of self-defense-only defense.
Scholz, who visited Japan last year ahead of his trip to China, stressed that Germany's economic relationship with Tokyo takes precedence over Beijing. Scholz is pushing to diversify Germany's trading partners while speaking out against a complete decoupling from China.

Japan and the United States are seeking ways to counter China's growing economic influence in the region. Tokyo also wants to bolster economic security with other democracies in areas such as supply chains and the protection of sensitive technologies, apparently to counter China.

But Japan, America's number one ally and China's main trading partner, is in a delicate position, having to balance its position between the two superpowers.

For Germany, China has been Germany's largest trading partner for the sixth consecutive year in 2021, and business ties are still booming despite political tensions.