Japanese new PM to deliver policy address; policy on relations with China in focus

The newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to deliver her first policy address in parliament on Friday. On Thursday, some Japanese media revealed in advance the content of the policy address including the description of China as "important neighboring country."

Takaichi's speech is expected to be parsed for any hints of how her government will look, after her stances on history and security raised concerns at home and abroad about the country's tilt to the right, while her preference for fiscal spending buoyed financial markets, the Kyodo News said.

A report by Jiji Press noted that in her planned first policy address since taking office, Takaichi is expected to describe China as an "important neighboring country," while also pointing out that "there are concerns regarding security and economic security." The report said she will call for the comprehensive advancement of a "strategically reciprocal relationship" through leader-level summit.

As of press time, Japanese media had not released the full text of the address regarding China, offering only brief mentions of the new government's China policy. Jiji Press ran a story starting with Takaichi's address on "Responsible, Proactive Fiscal Policy," while Kyodo News focused on "New Japan PM to move up defense spending goal by 2 years in policy speech."

Ahead of Takaichi's planned policy address, Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi stated at his inaugural press conference on Wednesday that regarding relations with China, he will work to promote a "strategically reciprocal relationship" that expands shared interests and strive to build a constructive and stable bilateral relationship, Kyodo News reported.

He also said that Japan will strengthen communication, and through the efforts of both sides, reduce challenges and difficulties while enhancing understanding and cooperation, according to Japanese media reports.

Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi's remarks on China-Japan relations reflect that the Sanae Takaichi administration has largely maintained the overall tone of its China policy from the previous administration under Shigeru Ishiba - namely, continuing to work with China to build a "strategically reciprocal relationship," Chen Yang, director of the Japan Research Center and research fellow at the HaiYi Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday.

While the new Japanese government indicates a broad direction of Japan's China policy, it has yet to give explicit positions on specific questions such as Taiwan island, Chen said, noting that considering that Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara stated on Wednesday that "the Takaichi Cabinet will further deepen cooperation and exchanges (with Taiwan) based on the basic stance of maintaining practical non-governmental relations," the Takaichi government's future words and actions on the Taiwan question merit close attention.

The draft of the policy address of Takaichi revealed by the Japanese media reflected the dual nature of Japan's China policy under its conservative governments, Xiang Haoyu, a distinguished research fellow at the Department for Asia-Pacific Studies of the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"This two-sided approach has run through successive administrations: on one hand, they recognize China's importance to Japan and understand that maintaining a stable and positive bilateral relationship serves Japan's national interests; on the other hand, due to a lack of comprehensive and objective understanding of China, they generally hold a negative perception and interpret China's rise in a biased way," Xiang said.

Besides the content about China's policy, some Japanese media also indicated that the Japanese government intends to advance the current goal of raising defense spending to 2 percent of GDP within the 2025 fiscal year. Tokyo had previously planned to achieve this target in the 2027 fiscal year, Nikkei Shimbun reported Thursday.

The current three national security documents were formulated at the end of 2022, setting the goal of raising defense spending to 2 percent of GDP by fiscal 2027, according to The Asahi Shimbun.

As a result of increases based on these documents, defense spending in the initial budget for this fiscal year already accounts for 1.8 percent of GDP.

When asked about reports that Takaichi's first act was to indicate that she will accelerate Japan's military buildup, Guo Jiakun, spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Thursday that on Japan's increasing defense budget, given Japan's history of militarist aggression, Japan's military and security moves are closely watched by its Asian neighbors and the international community.