Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won a majority of seats in Japan’s parliament with surprising ease on Sunday in a general election that proved a mandate for the LDP’s leader, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, and his party-influenced promises to double Japan’s defense spending with an eye toward China.
Initial exit polls on October 31 suggested the LDP would have to rely on Komeito, its junior coalition partner, to retain a majority of seats in Japan’s Diet, or national legislature. The conservative LDP defied predictions, however, and “instead won a solid majority of 261 seats on its own,” Reuters reported on November 1.
Some observers feared Kishida might be relegated to the ranks of Japan’s short-term prime ministers if the LDP failed to hold onto its single-party majority in the Diet on Sunday.
Kishida has served as Japanese prime minister for less than a month after he was elected on October 4. The establishment politician served as Japan’s foreign minister from 2012 to 2017 under former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Abe resigned as Japan’s longest-serving prime minister in August 2020 for health reasons. He was replaced by Suga Yoshihide, who served as Japanese prime minister for a year before announcing on September 3 he would not seek reelection to the LDP presidency. The announcement effectively signaled Suga’s resignation as prime minister, since the same person traditionally leads both Japan’s ruling party and its office of the prime minister. The LDP elected Kishida to replace Suga as its president on September 29.
The results of Japan’s October 31 general election will allow Kishida to “put his own stamp on policies ahead of an upper house election next summer,” Reuters predicted, referring to the Diet’s bicameral legislature.
While campaigning for Sunday’s general election, Kishida “placed emphasis on defence in a nod to the more hawkish views of those in the LDP who supported him in his run for leader, which could become trickier given the electoral gains made by the dovish junior coalition partner Komeito,” according to Reuters.
“The LDP included an unprecedented pledge to double defence spending to 2 percent of GDP in its party platform, reflecting its haste to acquire weapons to deter China’s military in the disputed East China Sea,” the news agency noted.
“When we think about protecting people’s lives and livelihood, a budget should not come first,” Kishida said at a press conference on November 1.
“We need to think about what is really needed for that end. I’d like to proceed with this debate carefully so that I can gain Komeito’s understanding,” he added.
Japan has long denounced China’s encroachment on its maritime territory, especially near Japan’s Senkaku Islands, which Beijing illegally claims under the name of “Diaoyu.” The uninhabited islets are strategically located in the East China Sea a short distance northeast of Taiwan, which is a sovereign island nation also illegally claimed by China.
Beijing has recently ordered China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to increase military maneuvers and drills near Taiwan in an effort to intimidate the island, which Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to “reunify” with China by force, if necessary. The PLA’s actions have prompted Tokyo to voice a stronger opposition to Beijing’s aims to control most of the East and South China Seas.
“Because we are close geographically, what could happen in Taiwan could likely be an issue for Japan, and in that case, Japan will have to take the necessary response to that situation,” Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told CNN on September 16.
“Taiwan is located at the nexus of the East and South China Seas and it is geopolitically and strategically important. That’s why Taiwan’s peace and stability is not just important for this region, but to the international community as a whole,” Kishi explained.
“More than ninety percent of the energy that Japan uses is imported through the sea around Taiwan, so it’s important to maintain the maritime order and a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the defense minister noted.