I have had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo twice this fall to discuss quickly evolving issues related to critical and emerging technologies and economic security. In October, I participated in the CONVERGE Indo-Pacific Critical Tech Forum to discuss cooperation among Indo-Pacific countries, focusing specifically on semiconductors and artificial intelligence. The dialogue gathered stakeholders and experts from across government, business, civil society, and academia to discuss these complex issues, and I appreciated the diverse perspectives expressed by colleagues from Japan, the US, Australia, India, Singapore, the Philippines, the Netherlands, and elsewhere.
In November, I returned to Tokyo for a series of events related to a newly launched two-year joint research project on Deepening of U.S.-Japan Cooperation on ‘Non-Military’ Aspects, which aims to unravel the patterns of division within U.S. and Japanese societies and clarify shared issues. I spoke on US-Japan cooperation on economic security at a public event on the Future of US-Japan Relations in the Age of Division at the International House of Japan. This public event was followed by a private roundtable with Diet members and a closed-door workshop among researchers.