Japan Institute for National Fundamentals

　
The word “resolve” often comes out of the mouths of the nine candidates who have run for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election set for September 27. For example, former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has emphasized his “resolve to do what needs to be done to make Japan a country with a bright outlook for the future.” In the midst of an ever-tougher security environment surrounding Japan, the next LDP leader set to become Japan’s new prime minister is required to have a true resolve to defend Japan.

Target of Chinese political maneuvering?

Among the nine candidates, Yoshimasa Hayashi has given the impression of being the most stable in public debates for the LDP election and television appearances, said a senior government official. That should be the case. As chief cabinet secretary, he holds daily press conferences, being accustomed to answering questions. Hayashi has also served as foreign, defense, agriculture, and education ministers, boasting of a wealth of experience.

As pointed out at a joint press conference with other candidates at the Japan National Press Club on September 14, however, Hayashi as chief cabinet secretary for the Fumio Kishida cabinet is also responsible for the situation in which the cabinet has suffered from low approval ratings. While accountability is important in politics, there is also responsibility for results. The same is true for LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi, another presidential candidate, who is the party’s No. 2 after Kishida.

Hayashi is dubbed as “pro-China.” This is because he, before his appointment as foreign minister, had served as chairman of the Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship League, which was regarded by the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo as one of the seven friendly Japanese organizations for China. He refutes this, saying that he is not a China appeaser but a China expert, but to what extent is he aware that he has been used for China’s political maneuvering against Japan?

Takaichi’s track record of refuting China

Among the nine LDP presidential candidates, economic security minister Sanae Takaichi is the only one who has spoken out against China, according to Japanese government officials. Immediately after a Chinese representative at a general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in September 2023 described treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station as “nuclear-contaminated water” and criticized the water’s discharge into the sea as irresponsible, Takaichi immediately countered that China was the only IAEA member that sent groundless messages and imposed unusual restrictions on imports from Japan.

On August 26 ahead of the LDP presidential election, a Chinese military intelligence-gathering aircraft violated Japan’s airspace for the first time. China Coast Guard ships have frequently intruded into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. Senior U.S. military officials have warned that China could invade Taiwan by 2027. The next LDP president or prime minister will be asked whether the Japanese leader has a resolve to risk the lives of Self-Defense Forces personnel in the event of an emergency.

All the nine candidates have emphasized the importance of enshrining the existence of the Self-Defense Forces in the constitution. I would like them to give top priority to realizing the constitutional amendment in the first step to embody resolves.

Takashi Arimoto is a Planning Committee member at the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals and a columnist at the Sankei Shimbun newspaper.