US President Trump and US President Putin held a telephone conference and agreed to begin talks to end the Ukraine war. This is a big step forward and has attracted the world’s attention. Another big topic is China’s move to impose retaliatory tariffs on the US.

For Japan, which is geographically between the US and China, the resumption of the US-China trade war is an urgent issue that cannot be overlooked in silence, in addition to the talks to end the Ukraine war.

Recently, Prime Minister Ishiba and President Trump met and, well, it went smoothly, but we cannot be happy about the “golden age of Japan-US relations.” At this point, it is unclear whether it is really a golden age. I feel that this is not the time to be complacent.

After all, international politics is a clash of national interests, and it cannot be overcome by diplomatic rhetoric alone. The US-China relationship, which is at odds with each other, seems to be a healthier way of international politics.

Recently, China surprised the world by announcing its own generative AI, “DeepSeek.” At present, it is not clear what kind of technology DeepSeek is, but it at least shows an intention to challenge the field of public AI, which is a stronghold of the United States. If there is one country that will strike back at the American IT empire that boasts GAFAM, it will be China. Although the country has many problems, we commend its spirit in confronting the United States.
What about Japan? Currently, Japan is suffering from a digital deficit. In 2012, the deficit reached a record high of 6.65 trillion yen. In recent years, some have mocked Japan’s state as a “digital peasant nation.” This refers to the fact that Japanese businesses are busy using GAFAM’s cloud and IT services, and are, so to speak, being sucked out of rent.
If things continue like this, it will become truly unclear why Japan is undertaking DX. We need to stop for a moment and come up with a serious strategy to change the game. (Kitajima Kei)

※Translating Japanese articles into English with AI