Japan positioned to link U. S. and Europe in a fragmented world
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, U. S. President Donald Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other world leaders attend a working dinner during the Group of Seven summit in Evian,. . .
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, U. S. President Donald Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other world leaders attend a working dinner during the Group of Seven summit in Evian, France, on June 15. |REUTERSJul 5, 2026In a promotional video for his book “Defending Taiwan,” Eyck Freymann argues that China is using Japan as a testing ground for new forms of economic coercion. Japan’s refusal to yield, he says, is critical to regional stability. Beijing has built strategic reserves not only of oil and rare earths, but also of commodities such as sugar and cotton, preparing for a potential Taiwan contingency. Freymann also notes the scale of the challenge. Even three U. S. aircraft carriers in the Middle East have struggled to secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, while the Taiwan Strait carries far greater daily traffic. Managing a crisis there would be beyond the capacity of the United States alone. Cooperation among allies is not optional — it is essential. Yet since the start of U. S. President Donald Trump’s second term, adversarial relations between the U. S. and Europe have increasingly become the norm. At a May workshop at the European University Institute, experts from Japan, the U. S. , Europe and South Korea discussed security diversification and economic resilience. European participants largely took hostile transatlantic relations as a given. In a time of both misinformation and too much information,quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. SUBSCRIBE NOW