China, Russia, Iran, North Korea new 'Axis of Evil', says Japan's ex-defence min Yasuhide Nakayama at Firstpost Defence Summit

Speaking on China’s hunger for semiconductor chips, especially those that can be used in AI and for military applications, former Defence Minister of Japan, Yasuhide Nakayama claimed that China is a part of the new “Axis of Evil”. Along with China, Nakayama also placed Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

At the Firstpost Defence Summit in New Delhi, Nakayama also explained, how China’s desperation in getting their hands on AI-capable chips may force them to take a drastic step, and how, that will have an impact in not just Taiwan, but Japan as well.

Given that Taiwan’s TSMC produces almost half of all high-end semiconductors in the world, there has been a palpable fear that China may invade the island nation some day. This fear gets even more substantial when you consider that the US has imposed some heavy sanctions on China, which has forced their hand into acquiring AI chips at a far higher cost than other countries.

“Ukrainians have lost their lives and their homes, so I pay condolences to the people of Ukraine,” said Nakayama. He also referred to Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 and how innocent people lost their lives.

He then went on to compare Russia and Hamas’ actions, with that of China, citing their treatment of Hong Kong. The former defence minister also cited China’s behaviour with its neighbours, Taiwan and Japan.

“After the pandemic, what we have learnt is that we are already in World War III,” said Nakayama. In case China attacks Taiwan, Japan too, will be very adversely affected. 90 per cent of our crude oil comes through the Taiwan Strait, 60% of gas comes from Indonesia and other neighbouring countries, through Taiwan,” he claimed.

“Chips affect all nations, and practically everything,” he added. So it becomes imperative that we control Chinese activities in the Taiwan strait, he claimed.

Nakayama then trained his guns at Russia. “China and Russia are collaborators.” There have been reports claiming that Russia is likely to launch a nuclear missile in space, possibly to take down US satellites.

“We need to think more deeply about this axis of evil companies,” he added. “Otherwise, peace cannot be an option.”