Kishida Fumio officially became Japan’s new prime minister

Kishida Fumio, the new president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was officially elected as the country’s new prime minister on October 4, 2021. The new cabinet is expected to retain the current foreign and defense ministers and create a new economic and security minister whose top priority is believed to be protecting sensitive technology from Theft by China.

64-year-old former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida was elected LDP president last week, beating several candidates to pave the way for a parliamentary vote on
October 4 to formally confirm him as Japan’s new prime minister.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and his entire cabinet officially announced their resignation Monday after just a year in office. He resigned in August after being widely criticized in Japan for his botched response to the coronavirus outbreak.

As the LDP’s new president, Fumio Kishida will lead the ruling party into the parliamentary election. Japanese media reported Monday that he is expected to announce the dissolution of the lower house of parliament on October 30, paving the way for an election no later than November 28.

As the new prime minister, Kishida’s immediate priority is to deal with the impact of COVID-19 on people’s lives and the economy. He reportedly retained current foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, signaling that his government will continue to base its security on the US-Japan alliance and respond forcefully to China’s regional expansion.

During his campaign, Mr. Kishida said that if elected, he would strengthen defense and the coast guard and not blindly stick to the principle of spending no more than 1% of gross domestic product on defense.

Japanese media reported that the new government will create a new post of economic security minister to ensure that Japan’s sensitive technology is not stolen by countries such as China.

Earlier, Mr. Kishida said he would appoint a special assistant to the prime minister to oversee China’s treatment of the Uighur minority. “I will carry the torch of freedom and democracy by working with nations that share universal values,” he said.

The former foreign minister also said during the campaign that he would lead the Japanese government to strengthen cooperation with Taiwan, which values freedom, democracy and the rule of law.’ Seeing the fall of Hong Kong and what happened to Uighurs in Xinjiang, Taiwan could be Beijing’s next target, he said. Mr. Kishida said at the time that Japan would be greatly affected by a war in the Taiwan Strait, so it should continue to strengthen its defense to deal with external threats.

China’s defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian said last week that “Japan’s massive increase in defense spending, massive purchase of weapons and equipment and frequent large-scale military exercises are extremely inconsistent with the ‘exclusively defensive’ policy it claims to be pursuing.”

“Taiwan’s affairs are none of Japan’s business,” he said, adding that “no country will be allowed to meddle in the Taiwan issue in any way.”