Tricky Tokyo-Beijing relations weigh on Japan’s political parties as Kishida seeks mandate in lower house election
- Hawks in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party want to distance it from its China-friendly junior coalition partner Komeito, founded by followers of the Soka Gakkai Buddhist group
- Critics accuse Komeito of undermining Japan’s interests in the East China Sea and ignoring China’s actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong. Komeito says it shares the concerns, but wants cooperation, not confrontation, with China
Almost 30 per cent of voters plan to choose the ruling LDP in the proportional vote in Japan’s upcoming election on October 31, a poll released over the weekend by Kyodo News found.
Still, the LDP is widely expected to remain in control of the government as it has for the past nine years and win an outright majority of the 465 lower house seats. But if it slips below the simple majority of 233 seats, it would then need the help of Komeito, which held 29 seats before parliament was dissolved.
The Buddhist-backed party founded by followers of the Soka Gakkai religious group has been an electoral partner of the LDP since 2012 and been rewarded with cabinet positions under a series of LDP prime ministers.
Yet the alliance is being questioned by right-wing LDP members who claim that both parties are growing apart in their positions on national security, defence spending and revising the constitution.