Japan’s trade and industry minister said on Thursday that free trade and economic interdependence since the end of the Cold War have supported authoritarian regimes and that the United States and similar democracies must counter them with a “new world order”, Reuters reported.

“Authoritarian countries have amassed enormous power both economically and militarily,” Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“We must restore the world order based on the fundamental values ​​of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” he added.

Nishimura spoke ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Washington next week for talks that are expected to touch on topics such as Ukraine, North Korea and tensions between China and Taiwan. This summit will be preceded by negotiations between the ministers of defense and foreign affairs of the two countries.

Kishida said this week he would discuss Tokyo’s new security policy after Washington’s key ally in countering China’s rise in Asia unveiled its biggest military buildup since World War II last month.

Nishimura’s call to arms comes amid growing concern, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, that Beijing and Moscow will use their control over energy resources and influence over manufacturing supply chains to prevent the United States, Japan, Europe and others from opposing their diplomatic and military goals. .

Leaders of the G7 are likely to discuss how to respond to economic pressures when they meet in the Japanese city of Hiroshima in May, Nishimura said.

“We may have to prepare to identify obstacles for countries that want to use coercion and then countermeasures if necessary,” he said.

Nishimura warned that democracies must protect their industrial power and be wary of losing technology, especially those that could be put to military use.

He called for this US-Japan cooperation to go beyond semiconductors to include biotechnology, artificial intelligence and quantum science.