With the launch of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s second reshuffled Cabinet, her administration should make protecting 91AV原创 undersea cables a priority.

These cables are critical infrastructure not only for Japan but for the countries with which it communicates and does business. Given the scale of the challenge, protecting them will require a “whole-of-government” approach.

This might be more difficult than it sounds. Because the issue of submarine cables is divided between multiple agencies and a handful of ministers, it may even require the temporary creation of a “special minister for undersea cables” who can devote his or her full attention to the matter.