Chinese spies stealing Japanese industrial secrets in boardrooms. Chip smugglers ferrying Nvidia¡¯s prized artificial intelligence semiconductors via Japan. Drug gangs quietly slipping fentanyl across Japan¡¯s borders to a U.S. opioid crisis.
Across a range of industries, Japan¡¯s economic-security vulnerabilities have been on display in a slew of recent incidents. The cases show how foreign actors increasingly see Japan as an attractive target ¡ª and, in some instances, a convenient gateway ¡ª for espionage and other illicit activities.
That¡¯s helping drive Japan¡¯s most ambitious economic-security push in years under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a longtime advocate of stronger safeguards against such threats. Her administration is on the cusp of launching what¡¯s been billed as the Japanese equivalent to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS)?in an effort to broaden and intensify reviews of overseas funds eyeing local targets.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.