Has Takahashi Hayato successfully been elected as the president of the Liberal Democratic Party? Will she fulfill her promises if she wins the prime ministerial election?

On October 4th local time, the results of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party presidential election were announced. Former Minister of Economic Security Takahashi Hayato received the majority of votes and was elected as the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party, and is expected to become Japan's first female prime minister.

From the perspective of entertainment, Takahashi Hayato's victory is a result that both Chinese and Japanese netizens have been looking forward to seeing.

Takahashi Hayato

This future Japanese female prime minister has denied historical facts such as the Nanjing Massacre and the forced conscription of "comfort women," and has also claimed that "Taiwan's affairs are Japan's affairs," vowing to lead Japan to "reclaim" the Diaoyu Islands, enter the Bohai Bay, and "control" Dokdo and the Northern Territories.

Visiting the Yasukuni Shrine for Takahashi Hayato is almost routine: from 2014 to 2025, Takahashi Hayato visited the Yasukuni Shrine 11 times, with the last visit on August 15th this year, the day of Japan's surrender in World War II—she once said that regardless of her position, she would not give up visiting the Yasukuni Shrine.

Therefore, both Chinese and Japanese netizens are waiting for the show: some Japanese right-wingers who are not clear-minded hope that Takahashi Hayato can fulfill her political views regarding China; while Chinese netizens want to see whether this self-proclaimed "Japanese Iron Lady" successor of Abe has the courage to confront today's China directly and give China an opportunity to thoroughly settle the historical issues between China and Japan.

A bit disappointed, Takahashi Hayato actually backed down

However, we might be disappointed this time: during the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, Takahashi Hayato has already backed down.

In interviews, she avoided discussing her previous bold statements and only repeated the clichés like "no force should unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait," strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance, and the "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" framework.

When asked whether she would continue to visit the Yasukuni Shrine if she became prime minister, Takahashi Hayato gave a response that was "non-committal," neither confirming nor denying the question, and evaded it.

It should be said that Takahashi Hayato's selective amnesia is not surprising. Her election as the president of the Liberal Democratic Party indicates that there is considerable public support within the party and Japanese society for Japan to take a tough stance towards China.

But as the saying goes, "You don't know the difficulties of running a household until you manage it yourself." These right-wing or even extreme right-wing politicians may talk loudly when they are not in power, but once they are in that position, they will realize that they have no means to take a tough stance against China, and just maintaining the operation of Japan's inherently weak "machine" is considered good enough.

Shigeru Ishiba recently visited Taiwan before becoming prime minister

Shigeru Ishiba is an example of this: before being elected as prime minister, Ishiba had just visited Taiwan; however, once he became the prime minister of Japan, Ishiba immediately turned into a "mud doll," doing nothing other than repeating "no force should unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait," which led to some Japanese right-wingers criticizing him as a "pro-China" person.

Now, it's Takahashi Hayato's turn to deal with this messy situation in Japan.

Fundamentally, the problems Japan currently faces are not caused by China. For example, Japanese politicians often mention the need to achieve the "normalization" of Japan, but the biggest obstacle to achieving Japan's "national normalization" is not China, but the U.S. military stationed in Japan—so long as the U.S. military remains in Japan, Japan cannot truly be considered a "normal country."

Realizing national normalization? Would Japan dare to expel the U.S. military?

The "split personality" of Japan is evident here: Takahashi Hayato and others dare to act aggressively towards China, but are afraid to say anything about the United States, which is the real "blood bag" for Japan.

This is why we say Japan is a mess: Takahashi Hayato's shouting at China cannot solve Japan's difficulties. The so-called "China-US conflict, Japan reaping the benefits" is a false proposition, because in the end, Japan would have to choose between being a pawn for the U.S. or being destroyed by China.

Therefore, without the ability to resist the U.S., Takahashi Hayato is powerless to solve Japan's difficulties, and can only act as a paper hanger, pretending to maintain peace and stability.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7557582954701144595/

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