Taiwan is asking Japan to upgrade their joint talks and work more closely on chips — good news for both economies if it leads to real deals.

• Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung hosted five Japanese lawmakers and called for stronger economic security ties between the two sides.
• He wants the existing Taiwan-Japan talks reshaped to look more like Taiwan's mechanisms with the U.S., with chips, AI, smart healthcare and disaster resilience as the focus.
• The push comes as the Indo-Pacific security picture shifts fast and global supply chains get rebuilt.
• Taiwan and Japan already have deals on investment, double taxation and customs cooperation — an unusually deep base for two countries without formal ties.
• The visiting lawmakers toured Hsinchu Science Park and Taiwan's main industrial research institute, and said there is still a lot of untapped room to work together.

Outlook: Expect more Taiwan-Japan technology and supply-chain talks, with semiconductors at the center.