Taiwan is pushing to team up with Japan on chips and other strategic industries to build supply chains that cut out China — good news for Taiwanese tech firms and for anyone worried about Chinese leverage over key goods.

• President Lai Ching-te met a visiting delegation from Japan's Ishin party and called for the two sides to join forces on a supply chain independent of China.
• Japan's new prime minister, Takaichi Sanae, has named AI, chips, quantum, and aerospace among 17 industries marked for major investment, backed by a plan to draw big money into industrial clusters.
• Taiwanese high-tech companies beyond TSMC are expected to take part, deepening the two countries' economic links.
• The Ishin party has pushed Japan to build up its defenses and lists Taiwan as a partner sharing the same values, and it is now part of a coalition government with the ruling LDP.
• Both sides framed peace in the Taiwan Strait as central to global stability, with Japan insisting the Taiwan question be settled peacefully.

Outlook: Expect more Taiwanese investment in Japan's new industrial clusters and closer defense-flavored economic coordination between Taipei and Tokyo.