A Japanese lawmaker is pushing for formal ties and a three-way military alliance between the US, Japan and Taiwan — a direct challenge to Beijing, and a sign Tokyo's politics are hardening on China.

• Japanese upper-house member Ishihira Kei, who was born in China and joined its democracy movement, called the Chinese Communist Party a brutal dictatorship that no one in Japan or Taiwan should place any hope in.
• He argued Japan and Taiwan share one fate: if China swallows Taiwan, Japan's own defense collapses.
• His warning is blunt — as long as the CCP exists it will look for a chance to attack Taiwan, and possibly Japan too.
• The existing US-Japan security treaty is missing a leg, in his view, and that leg is Taiwan; the fix is a US-Japan-Taiwan "iron triangle."
• Back home he plans to push a Japanese version of the Taiwan Relations Act to lock in cooperation by law, while Taiwan's foreign minister talked up joint work on chips and drone supply chains that cut China out.

Outlook: Expect louder Japanese legislative pushes on Taiwan and angry pushback from Beijing, though formal diplomatic recognition remains a long shot.