With the global economy continuing to be at the mercy of the U.S.-China rivalry as well as the coronavirus pandemic, the Japanese government is set to submit a package of legislation to parliament later this month to bolster the country’s economic security.
“Economic security is a pressing issue to protect the safety and security of the people,” said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a ministerial meeting on the topic on Feb. 4.
It was only somewhat recently that economic security shifted into the spotlight, mainly on the back of heightened tensions between the United States and China. Then came the pandemic, which served as a fresh wake-up call due to the resulting disruption to supply chains and shortages of critical products, such as semiconductors.