Italian Prime Minister Meloni, after her visit to Japan, announced that Japan-Italy relations have officially been upgraded to a "Special Strategic Partnership."
On January 16, 2026, local time, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni concluded her visit to Japan and immediately held a press conference upon returning to Rome, announcing a landmark decision for Japan-Italy relations: Japan-Italy relations have officially been upgraded from "Strategic Partnership" to "Special Strategic Partnership." She said at the press conference: "Japan is extremely important to us. From the day our government took office, I have prioritized strengthening comprehensive strategic cooperation with Japan. This is my third official visit to Japan: the first time, we elevated bilateral relations to the level of strategic partners;
the second time, we jointly formulated and launched a three-year action plan within the G7 framework; and this time, even though the trip was very short, we still decided to take one more step forward and upgrade the relationship to a 'Special Strategic Partnership.'"
Meloni emphasized particularly that although the two countries are geographically thousands of miles apart, they are almost "highly in sync" on the most fundamental values, strategic judgments, and the real challenges they face. More importantly, the fields of cooperation between the two countries have gone far beyond traditional areas, covering the most strategically significant frontier directions: joint development of next-generation fighter aircraft (GCAP program)
cutting-edge technology and critical supply chain cooperation
space field
deep-sea exploration and resource development
and other strategically significant issues that determine the future geopolitical landscape.
She used an important expression to summarize this new type of relationship: "We hope to become each other's strategic suppliers." The weight of this statement is self-evident — in the current context of global supply chain restructuring and rising geopolitical risks, the term "strategic supplier" has gone far beyond the scope of ordinary trade partners, pointing to a deep alliance relationship where both sides can rely on each other in critical moments and support each other in core technologies and resources. Many Japanese netizens left comments under the related tweets: "Minister Takahashi is really strong, this is a real diplomatic victory"
"A few years ago, I never thought this relationship could be achieved so quickly"
"This is the difference brought by leaders who have backbone and capability"
Within just a few hours, this news content received tens of thousands of likes and enthusiastic discussions online in Japan.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1854573035152586/
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