The Japanese House of Representatives yesterday formally reappointed Sanae Takaichi as prime minister, 10 days after her historic landslide election victory.
Takaichi, 64, became Japan’s first female prime minister in October and won a two-thirds majority for her party in the snap lower house elections on Feb. 8.
She has pledged to bolster Japan’s defenses to protect its territory and waters, likely further straining relations with Beijing, and to boost the flagging economy.
Photo: Bloomberg
Takaichi suggested in November that Japan could take military action if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force — angering China.
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that forces in Japan were seeking to “revive militarism.”
Takaichi is expected to pledge in a policy speech tomorrow to update Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) strategic framework, local media reported.
“Compared with when FOIP was first proposed, the international situation and security environment surrounding Japan have become significantly more severe,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Monday.
In practice this would likely mean strengthening supply chains and promoting free trade through the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Takaichi’s government also plans to pass legislation to establish a National Intelligence Agency and to begin concrete discussions towards an anti-espionage law, the reports said.
Takaichi has also promised to tighten rules surrounding immigration, even though Asia’s No. 1 economy is struggling with labor shortages and a falling population.
She is also expected to reiterate her campaign pledge to suspend consumption tax on food for two years to ease inflationary pressures on households, local media said.
This promise has exacerbated market worries about Japan’s colossal debt, with yields on long-dated government bonds hitting record highs last month.
IMF chief of mission in Japan Rahul Anand yesterday said that Japan’s debt interest payments would double from last year to 2031.
“Removing the consumption tax [on food] would weaken the tax revenue base, since the consumption tax is an important way to raise revenues without creating distortions in the economy,” Anand said.
To ease such concerns, Takaichi would repeat her mantra of having a “responsible, proactive” fiscal policy and set a target on reducing government debt, the reports said.
She would also announce the creation of a cross-party “national council” to discuss taxation and how to fund aging Japan’s ballooning social security bill.
However, Takaichi’s first order of business would be obtaining approval for Japan’s budget for the fiscal year beginning on April 1 after the process was delayed by the election.
The ruling coalition also wants to pass legislation that would outlaw destroying the Japanese flag, the media reports said.
It wants to accelerate debate on changing the constitution and on revising the imperial family’s rules to ease a looming succession crisis.
Takaichi and many within her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) oppose making it possible for a woman to become emperor, but rules could be changed to “adopt” new male members.
Takaichi was due to give a news conference later yesterday.
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