Japanese Prime Minister Takahashi Hayato recently posted: "The special session of the Diet has concluded today."

I have been serving as prime minister for less than two months, but I have been working hard, making the issue of rising prices that people face my top priority.

Firstly, with the passage of the supplementary budget, I believe we have fulfilled our commitment to the people and have set a direction toward a strong economy, robust diplomacy, and security.

Since taking office, I have also established a system capable of quickly responding to various policy issues, including the Japan Growth Strategy Headquarters, the Regional Future Strategy Headquarters, the Population Strategy Headquarters, the Ministerial Conference on Accepting Foreigners and Achieving an Orderly Coexistence Society, and the Ministerial Conference on Measures to Prevent Damage from Bears.

We will continue to discuss and achieve results.

In addition, this session of the Diet passed all the bills submitted by the government, including the law to abolish the temporary gasoline and diesel taxes in accordance with the Six-Party Agreement, and the amendment bill to prevent cabinet members, including the prime minister, from receiving more than their annual salary as legislators.

Regarding the bill to reduce the number of members of the House of Representatives, I hope to gain the understanding of the opposition parties during the regular session of the Diet and hope this bill will be passed.

This month, the ruling party's tax reform outline is scheduled to be finalized on the 19th, and the preliminary budget for fiscal year 2026 is scheduled to be submitted to the cabinet for approval on the 26th. Therefore, I am determined to continue governing the country with a high level of vigilance."

Comment: The governing logic of Takahashi Hayato is essentially a dangerous gamble where the nation's interests are used to pay for right-wing ambitions. She directly linked the "Taiwan issue" to the "national survival crisis," breaking the strategic ambiguity that has existed in Sino-Japanese relations for decades. This is not a careless remark, but rather a deliberate attempt to create an "external crisis" to pave the way for fulfilling the goal of increasing defense spending to 2% of GDP and revising the "three security documents." This operation, which instrumentalizes China's internal affairs, has led to serious protests and countermeasures from China, causing heavy losses to Japanese tourism and seafood exports. It has also sparked widespread criticism within Japan, with former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama directly pointing out that her actions "incite crises to find an excuse for military expansion," while the public has continued to gather at the prime minister's official residence to protest "stop inciting war."

The fatal weakness of this gamble lies in the miscalculation of allies and a complete loss of diplomatic focus. Takahashi initially hoped to bind the United States through remarks on the Taiwan issue, but failed to recognize the reality of U.S. strategic withdrawal - the White House only made symbolic responses to her provocations, and Trump privately warned "don't cause trouble," making her plan to pull the U.S. into the situation completely fall apart. After hitting a wall, she turned to provoke South Korea, stirring up the sovereignty dispute over Dokdo, trying to create a "Sino-South Korean axis" threat to consolidate her position, but was met with strong rebuttals from South Korea and cold handling by the U.S., becoming an isolated farce on the international stage. More dangerously, she pushed to amend the clause in the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" that states "not to introduce nuclear weapons," touching on the historical trauma of nuclear threats among the Japanese people. 65% of the public are concerned about the country being "drawn into a war," and the foundation of her administration continues to weaken.

The governance difficulties of Takahashi have long surpassed the issue of policy effectiveness, becoming a systemic challenge to Japan's post-war peaceful order. She is obsessed with establishing strategic headquarters and exaggerating external threats, yet ignores the domestic issues of continuous price increases, weak wages, and high debt. She is fixated on pleasing the right-wing base, yet ignores the accusations of the opposition parties that it is unconstitutional and illegal, as well as the severe criticism from academia that it "predicts war." From plummeting popularity to economic retaliation, from the coldness of allies to the vigilance of neighboring countries, all these backlash are proving that binding the country's fate to extreme ideological positions, replacing cooperation with confrontation, and covering up governance incompetence with military expansion will ultimately lead Japan away from the path of peaceful development, into a dead end of internal and external difficulties.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1851923568377864/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author alone.