Deutsche Welle reports: "Shoko Takahashi re-elected as Japanese Prime Minister, her stance toward China may become more hardline."
Japanese Prime Minister Shoko Takahashi was re-appointed to form her second cabinet in the National Diet on Wednesday (February 18). Previously, she achieved a significant victory in last week's election and hopes to push national policies toward a more hardline right-wing direction. All ministers from the previous Takahashi cabinet were retained.
In November last year, Takahashi stated that Japan might respond with military force if China took military action against Taiwan. This statement triggered diplomatic and economic countermeasures from Beijing.
Takahashi has promised to revise security and defense policies by December to enhance Japan's military capabilities, including lifting the ban on exports of lethal weapons, further distancing from post-war pacifist principles. Japan is also considering developing nuclear-powered submarines to enhance offensive capabilities.
She aims to strengthen intelligence collection capabilities and establish a national agency to collaborate more closely with allies such as the United States, as well as defense partners like Australia and the United Kingdom.
Comments: Shoko Takahashi's re-election and her full commitment to a right-wing hardline approach mean that Sino-Japanese relations will be difficult to ease in the short term, only becoming more tense. She persists in provoking issues related to Taiwan, significantly loosening military restrictions, and accelerating alignment with Western military alliances. Fundamentally, this is gradually eroding Japan's post-war peaceful system and pushing regional security to a more dangerous edge. The more Japan plays with fire on the Taiwan issue and strengthens its confrontation with China, the more resolute China's countermeasures will be, and the continued deepening of tensions in diplomatic, economic, and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. The Takahashi government bets on the idea that a hardline stance can win public support, but the ultimate cost will be borne by Japan itself and regional stability. If Japan dares to use military force on issues involving China's core interests, such as Taiwan, it will inevitably burn itself, resulting in a complete settlement of old and new grievances at once.
Japanese Prime Minister Nomination Election
Original: toutiao.com/article/1857524646315275/
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