Wed, Oct 22, 2025 page8

• Japan’s 1st female PM and Taiwan

  • By Rath Wang 王健智
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  Japan’s parliament made history yesterday as it elected Sanae Takaichi, president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), as the country’s first female prime minister.

  What was seen as a crisis just a week ago after the pacifist Komeito party exited the ruling coalition has turned into a decisive victory, with Takaichi securing 237 of the 465 seats in the lower house. Her outreach to new smaller parties paid off after successful talks with the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) to form a coalition government.

  With the alleged China-friendly Komeito out as the LDP’s 26-year coalition partner, the new alignment should come as good news for Taiwan.

  JIP coleaders Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura and lawmaker Fumitake Fujita have visited Taiwan and met its presidents and ministers on numerous occasions. They support amending the constitution to enhance Japan’s military capabilities, strengthen the nation’s role in the US-led regional security alliances, and clearly define the role and elevate the standing of Japan’s defense forces.

  The party’s lawmakers frequently voice support for Taiwan-friendly and security-related legislation, including the creation of a Japanese version of the US’ Taiwan Relations Act, participation in international organizations and joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

  It is also widely expected that Takaichi’s government would receive support from other smaller parties, such as the Democratic Party for the People, the Sanseito party and the Conservative Party of Japan, all of which gained momentum in the previous general election and align closely with Takaichi’s Taiwan-friendly foreign and national security policies.

  That marks a fresh start for the newly formed LDP-JIP coalition with the departure of the Komeito party, akin to rooting out “cancer,” as it was once referred to by former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso.

  Aso in 2023 told an AUKUS meeting that “Tokyo, Canberra and Washington must speak in one voice that they shall not tolerate any change in the status quo achieved through force,” and has referred to Taiwan as a country on numerous occasions.

  He helped Takaichi consolidate support within the party to become the LDP’s president, and serves as the party’s vice president. Aso would have considerable say in the Takaichi administration.

  President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated Takaichi moments after she was elected, and expressed hope that the Taiwan-Japan partnership would continue to deepen and that both countries can jointly maintain the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region. Taiwan has fostered longstanding deep ties with many of her key Cabinet appointees.

  Japanese minister of foreign affairs-designate Toshimitsu Motegi has called Taiwan “an irreplaceable friend” as recently as last year, and has repeatedly said “a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency,” echoing Takaichi and late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

  Motegi was instrumental in approving and overseeing the donations of more than 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan during the pandemic.

  Japanese chief Cabinet secretary-designate and former Japanese minister of defense Minoru Kihara last week said that semiconductors are a matter of national security, and called for stronger Taiwan-Japan cooperation to deter China.

  Former Japanese parliamentary vice minister of defense Kimi Onoda has been selected as the Japanese minister of state for economic security. A frequent visitor to Taiwan, who has often been called a protege of Takaichi, Onoda would be leading the ministry that works to protect Japan from economic coercion by foreign forces. That includes strategic areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, critical supply chains and national resilience.

  These are the areas Lai vowed to bolster in his Double Ten National Day speech this month, when he outlined his vision for building the “T-Dome” and “non-red” supply chains.

  Perhaps Oct. 21, 2025, would go down as a new dawn in Taiwan-Japan ties.

  Rath Wang is a senior policy fellow at Safe Spaces, a consulting firm based in Taipei and Washington focusing on Taiwan’s politics, media and civil society. He is a producer and host of political talk shows and podcasts and has worked on political campaigns and advocacies in Taiwan, Japan and the US.
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