Japan’s ‘Iron Lady’ Sanae Takaichi focuses on Taiwan, US in appeal to China hawks before LDP vote

Name: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to step down
Uploaded: 2021-09-21T10:30:21.000Z
Duration: 2 min 22 s
Description: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to step down

Takaichi is the most hawkish candidate in the ruling party’s election next week, the winner of which will be Japan’s next prime minister

She is looking to burnish her credentials with conservatives vocal over China’s attempts at regional control, but analysts say she faces an uphill battle

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Sanae Takaichi, at the time Japan’s internal affairs minister, attends a news conference in 2019. Photo: Reuters

Julian Ryall

Published: 6:30pm, 21 Sep 2021Updated: 8:47pm, 21 Sep 2021

Sanae Takaichi – the most hawkish candidate running to lead Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party in next week’s election, the winner of which will be the country’s next prime minister – has attempted to burnish her credentials with like-minded conservatives by speaking with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

During their 30-minute conversation on Monday afternoon, former internal affairs minister Takaichi, 60, emphasised that she hoped to enhance security ties between Taipei and Tokyo, and step up business exchanges as well.

Takaichi later tweeted that the discussions were “positive”, while Tsai expressed hope following their talks that self-ruled Taiwan and Japan would be able to cooperate more closely in the future, adding that mutual assistance between the two governments was critical to regional stability.

Key issues in the immediate future included regional security, economic development, and the global supply chain, Tsai said.

Lagging in the four-person LDP race with only days to go, Takaichi was appealing to conservatives in the party who were becoming more vocal over what they perceived as China’s increasingly heavy-handed attempts to exert control over the region, said Go Ito, a professor of political science at Tokyo’s Meiji University.

“Takaichi is the most hawkish of the candidates and she is effectively taking over [the policies of former prime minister Shinzo Abe on Taiwan],” he said. “But she is facing something of an uphill battle, in part because she is a woman and there are still quite a few conservatives who are not ready for a female party leader and prime minister. So this is why she is trying to appeal to that group, by reaching out to Taiwan.”

02:22

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to step down

According to Ito, this is an approach that is at odds with her rivals – vaccinations minister Taro Kono, former foreign minister Fumio Kishida, and acting LDP secretary general Seiko Noda – who have focused their campaigns on defeating Covid-19, rebuilding the economy, and getting the lives of ordinary people back on track.

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