Japan's ruling party warned that China's political, economic, legal, and military pressure on Taiwan has already started — a sobering read for the region, but the two sides are building deeper defense ties in response.

• Taiwan's DPP and Japan's LDP met in Tokyo and widened their yearly security talks from a 2+2 format to 5+5.
• The Japanese side said China's squeeze on Taiwan is already underway, and the priority now is maximum deterrence plus plans to protect civilians in a sudden crisis.
• Undersea cables, Chinese maritime militia, and more frequent military drills were flagged as signs the security picture is getting worse.
• The two sides want a non-China drone supply chain, shared cable-damage alerts, and a health cooperation agreement built on their pandemic-era ties.
• Talks also widened beyond defense into disinformation, cyber, education, and culture — a soft-power push alongside the hard-power one.

Outlook: Expect Taipei and Tokyo to turn these talks into standing joint mechanisms for early warning and crisis response rather than one-off help during emergencies.