Taiwan and Japan are pushing their unofficial relationship deeper, a positive signal for both economies and a quiet counterweight to pressure from China.

• Taiwan's deputy legislative speaker Chiang Chi-chen met Japan's ruling LDP leaders in Tokyo after an Asia-Pacific parliamentary summit that adopted three Taiwanese proposals.
• Both sides said rising regional tension makes economic security and closer cooperation more urgent.
• Trade between the two runs about $85 billion a year, and Taiwanese tourists now spend over a trillion yen in Japan annually.
• TSMC's first Kumamoto plant is in production and a second will use more advanced chipmaking, anchoring the tie-up in semiconductors.
• Japan is pushing AI, chips and 15 other strategic industries, areas where Taiwan sees room to plug in.

Outlook: Expect more high-level exchanges and deeper chip and supply-chain cooperation, though Beijing is likely to object.