News Analysis Japan now sees the defense of Taiwan as integral to the security of Japan and is intensifying its security engagement with Taiwan through its U.S. alliance. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Jan. 6 met with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, and Japanese Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo to discuss collaboration on emerging defense-related issues. The meeting report said that China had continued to violate international norms, provoking and raising tensions across the Taiwan Strait. “We consider Taiwan a very important partner with which we share fundamental values such as freedom, democracy, basic human rights and rule of law,” Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura stated at a news conference on Sept. 24. A recent poll found that 80 percent of Japanese identified China, rather than North Korea, as the country’s biggest security threat. The challenge to Japan comes not only in the Senkaku Islands, but …