Thread: A new PM for Japan

Japan PM Ishiba to meet U.S., Chinese presidents

apanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is planning to hold separate meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to South America later this month, government sources said Friday.

It will be the first time for Ishiba to meet with either president in person since taking office early last month.

Ishiba is slated to attend a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to be held in Peru from Nov. 15 and a summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in Brazil from Nov. 18.

The prime minister hopes to agree with Biden to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance in light of increased Chinese, Russian and North Korean military activity near Japan. They are also seen affirming cooperation with like-minded countries such as South Korea and Australia, the sources said.

In addition, they may exchange views on Ishiba’s proposal to revise the Japan-U.S. status of forces agreement.

With Xi, Ishiba hopes to agree on advancing the mutually beneficial strategic relationship between Japan and China, based on which the two nations aim to cooperate over issues of common interest, according to the sources.

Ishiba also plans to reiterate Tokyo’s call for China to resume imports of Japanese fishery products, ensure the safety of Japanese nationals in the country and immediately remove a sea buoy set up by Beijing inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Ishiba hopes to resolve pending bilateral issues by continuing high-level dialogue with Beijing. He met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Laos last month.

A week after election loss, Ishiba has a tailwind to form next government and remain as Japan PM

As the dust settles in Japan a week after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost its majority in the general election, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba appears to have won a reprieve in the battle for influence ahead of a special Parliament session expected on Nov 11.

The odds are that the 67-year-old, who just became prime minister on Oct 1, will stay on as leader of a minority government and escape the fate of becoming Japan’s shortest-lived leader. This is because he will likely get the largest vote share when Parliament convenes to choose the prime minister, with his party having the largest presence and a fragmented opposition unwilling to work together.

In remarks on Nov 1 to mark his first month in office, Mr Ishiba said: “It has been a really hectic month, and I have not had the time to catch my breath. “We have heard the voters’ harsh verdict loud and clear, and must solemnly and humbly accept the outcome. We will carefully manage the government from now on, with the understanding of many parties.”

A minority government would complicate the passage of legislation, given the ruling party’s need for the buy-in of smaller parties. However, this arrangement could offer some stability for Asia’s second-largest economy.

But Mr Ishiba will nonetheless have to walk a tightrope: A fresh scandal could easily ignite opposition efforts to bring down his administration via a no-confidence motion.

He will also need to rebuild public trust that has eroded, according to media surveys taken after the general election.

A Kyodo News poll conducted on Oct 28 and 29 saw the Cabinet’s approval rating dropping to 32.1 per cent, a plunge of 18.6 percentage points from the Oct 1 and 2 survey. Another poll by the Yomiuri newspaper showed approval at 34 per cent, down 17 percentage points from the previous survey.

Following protocol, Mr Ishiba’s Cabinet will formally resign on the morning of Nov 11, before the special Diet session to choose the prime minister.

If he gets re-elected, Mr Ishiba will form his second Cabinet that will likely comprise the same faces, except two replacements for Justice Minister Hideki Makihara and Agriculture Minister Yasuhiro Ozato, who lost their seats in the Oct 27 election.

The prime ministerial vote can take up to two rounds. In the first round, lawmakers of different political party stripes typically vote for their respective leaders, making it unlikely for any candidate to secure a clear majority.

Japan's parliament to start special session, Ishiba's reelection as PM eyed

Japan's parliament will convene a special session from next Monday following the general election, the top government spokesperson said Tuesday, with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba looking set to be reelected the same day.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi notified both ruling and opposition party lawmakers in charge of Diet affairs of the schedule of the envisioned four-day session.

A party leader must secure majority support in parliament to become the prime minister. If neither exceeds that threshold, a vote will proceed to a runoff, and the candidate who secures the most seats will secure the post.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, led by Yoshihiko Noda, saw its seats increase in last month's House of Representatives election but is still short of a majority.

While Japan's ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its partner Komeito lost their majority in the general election, Ishiba, who is also LDP president, is expected to remain in office as he is expected to receive more support than his main opposition counterpart in parliament, Kyodo News reported.

According to the Constitution, Ishiba's current cabinet will resign when the Diet convenes for a special session that must be held within 30 days of a general election. Both houses will hold a fresh vote to select a prime minister.

If Ishiba is reelected, he will form a second cabinet.

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PM Ishiba agrees during phone talks with Trump to meet soon

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Thursday that he agreed in phone talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to hold a meeting soon, while confirming they will work to elevate the bilateral alliance.

After the Republican was elected U.S. president, Ishiba, who became prime minister on Oct. 1, told reporters at his office, "I got the impression" that Trump is "friendly" and a person who "I can speak honestly with."

Ishiba also congratulated Trump, saying his slogan "Make America Great Again" resonated with many people in the United States.

Japan and the United States have been deepening their alliance to tackle common challenges and make the Indo-Pacific "a free and open" region, in the face of China's growing influence.

Ishiba, who is expected to be reelected prime minister following a general election last month, has floated the idea of creating an Asian version of NATO and revising a bilateral accord defining the status of U.S. forces stationed in Japan, a sensitive issue.

During his first term as U.S. president, Trump built a personal rapport with Japan's then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who underscored the importance of the longtime security alliance amid China's increasing assertiveness and North Korea's nuclear and missile development.

Abe rushed to Trump Tower in New York in 2016 to meet Trump when he was president-elect, paving the way for them to deepen a personal relationship.

The Japanese government is aiming to arrange an in-person meeting between Ishiba and Trump at an early date, officials said.

During the roughly five-minute conversation, Ishiba and Trump did not discuss the need for Japan to boost defense spending further or shoulder more of the cost of U.S. military bases in Japan.

Ishiba said he wants to discuss ways to strengthen the bilateral alliance on various fronts, which would entail enhancing the interoperability of the U.S. military and the Self-Defense Forces.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference that the bilateral alliance will remain the linchpin of Japan's foreign and security policies, and the two countries will expand cooperation as global partners who play a central role in ensuring a free and open international order.

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Trump win to dampen Japan PM's ambitions for U.S. troop pact change

Donald Trump's return to the White House is likely to make Japan reluctant to raise potentially controversial proposals affecting the decades-old bilateral alliance -- including Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's desire to seek a first-ever revision of a pact governing the U.S. military presence.

Ishiba says he wants to beef up the alliance by changing the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement. But experts warn that attempts to amend the pact could backfire with the Republican president-elect critical of allies he says are not paying enough for U.S. security support.

The Japanese government's priority for the time being is also likely to be propping up the economy, especially after the ruling coalition led by Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party lost its majority in the House of Representatives in the Oct. 27 election.

Ishiba, a defense policy expert who took office on Oct. 1, views the current Japan-U.S. security treaty as "asymmetrical" since while the United States is obliged to defend its Asian ally no corresponding obligation falls on Japan, with Tokyo instead required to provide U.S. forces with military bases.

"The time is ripe to change" the treaty, Ishiba said in a commentary contributed to the U.S. think tank Hudson Institute and released just days before becoming prime minister.

He proposed stationing Japanese Self-Defense Forces members in Guam to strengthen the alliance's deterrence capabilities including through a SOFA revision.

Under the bilateral security treaty, over 50,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, enabling the United States to respond rapidly to emergencies in a region where China has been increasingly assertive and North Korea has been developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. SOFA was signed alongside the 1960 treaty, defining the rights and privileges of American forces in Japan.

But critics and Okinawa Prefecture, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, view the agreement as unfair to Japan, particularly in regard to the legal protection from prosecution afforded to U.S. service members and accident investigations.

When campaigning for his party's leadership race in September and for the general election the following month, Ishiba showed eagerness to amend SOFA, taking a stance more commonly seen from opposition parties rather than the long-governing LDP.

Recalling a U.S. military helicopter crash on an Okinawa university campus that happened in 2004 when Ishiba was defense chief, he said he had wondered whether Japan was "a sovereign state" as U.S. forces sealed off access to the site to retrieve the chopper wreckage with local police unable to conduct their own investigation.

So far the two countries have made operational changes or forged supplementary agreements when high-profile crimes or incidents expose serious problems in the SOFA arrangements.

Ishiba has said operational changes may no longer be enough to address concerns regarding SOFA, but experts are doubtful that Ishiba will be able to bulldoze his way to a revamp.

Ishiba has said the revision is among the issues that should be discussed within his party to establish a consensus.

"It is very likely that his advisors have advised him on how such a policy could cause friction with the United States," said Jeffrey Hornung, a senior political scientist at the Rand Corporation, a nonpartisan U.S. research organization.

Hornung, Japan lead for the Rand National Security Research Division, also indicated that the difficulty of altering SOFA rests partly on the fact that the United States has similar agreements with countries around the world, which means changing one of them could trigger calls for revisions of others.

A senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official, meanwhile, suggested that a SOFA revision would be a demanding task that would absorb a lot of the government's energies.

Memories of Trump's "America First" policy in his first term in office are also raising concerns, with the approach described by critics as largely viewing allies in terms of dollars and cents rather than as partners to pursue common interests and shared values.

Trump himself has criticized the alliance with Japan as one-sided, saying in 2019 that "if Japan is attacked, we will fight World War III...but if we're attacked, Japan doesn't have to help us at all. They can watch it on a Sony television."

"Mr. Trump could use Mr. Ishiba's argument of the alliance's 'unfairness' against him," said Takuma Nakashima, a professor of Japanese political and diplomatic history at Kyushu University.

U.S. pressure for Japan to pay more of the cost of hosting American troops could be revived under the second Trump administration, even though Japan decided in 2022 to nearly double its annual defense spending to about 2 percent of gross domestic product in five years through fiscal 2027.

But the experts indicated that Ishiba's ambition to revise SOFA should not simply be sidestepped, since efforts to upgrade the partnership with Washington are important to ensure its durability.

Acknowledging that Ishiba's revision proposal still lacks specifics, Hornung said "similar" ideas, such as taking a cue from Singapore's fighter detachments on U.S. territory, may be "worth exploring," given the close ties between the American military and the SDF.

"This doesn't mean stationing the SDF in the U.S.; rather, it means providing them facilities at U.S. bases to train and exercise more, either on their own or with the U.S." he said.

"I think there are a lot of potential benefits that could be gained," he added, although noting that a thorough cost assessment is required.

Nakashima welcomed Ishiba's presentation of a future vision of the Japan-U.S. alliance, saying his proposal indicates the importance of the allies "sharing what they are unsatisfied about with each other in order to regularly review and improve their relationship."

"If he really hopes to push forward a SOFA revision, Mr. Ishiba must tenaciously build trustful ties both with (Japanese) bureaucrats and the U.S. side before broaching the SOFA issue when meeting with Mr. Trump," he said.

Ishiba Vows to Set Direction of Regional Policies by Year-End

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday that his government plans to set the fundamental direction of regional revitalization policies by the end of the year.

The government will launch a panel of regional business leaders and officials to discuss details, Ishiba said at the inaugural meeting of his ministerial task force on regional revitalization.

Ishiba also said that his government will aim to double regional revitalization-related subsidies to local governments in fiscal 2025 to support efforts to add value in industries including agriculture and tourism and create cultural value through new technologies.

Part of the subsidies will be included in a fiscal 2024 supplementary budget, he said.

Ishiba gives priority to regional revitalization. In his inaugural press conference last month, he said that he will focus on creating living environments in regional areas so people can work and live with peace of mind, moving people and businesses to regional areas to address overconcentration in Tokyo, and realizing value-added regional economies.

Japan PM Ishiba vows to boost defense capabilities

Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru has told members of the Self-Defense Forces that he will work to fundamentally reinforce the country's defense capabilities in light of the severe security environment.

Ishiba addressed about 600 SDF personnel on Saturday at a review ceremony at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Asaka training ground in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo.

He referred to the intrusions by Chinese and Russian military aircraft into Japan's airspace earlier this year. He said they are serious violations of Japan's sovereignty and are totally unacceptable.

With North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches also in mind, Ishiba said Japan is facing the toughest and most complex security environment in the postwar era. He said he will strengthen Japan's diplomacy and defense capabilities in a balanced manner.

The prime minister also spoke about his telephone conversation with US President-elect Donald Trump and said the two agreed to work together to raise the Japan-US alliance to new heights.

Ishiba pledged efforts to boost the country's defense capabilities, such as deploying standoff missiles that can strike targets from outside enemy range. He also indicated he would work to improve the working conditions of SDF personnel.

Ishiba said, "Protecting Japan's independence and peace is the pillar of our efforts," adding that he is determined to take the lead in protecting the people.

Japan, Peru to agree on cooperation in mineral mining technology -Nikkei

The leaders of Japan and Peru will sign a joint statement later this month on cooperation in mineral mining technology, aimed at strengthening their supply chains for critical minerals through Japanese technology, the Nikkei business daily said on Saturday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who plans to visit Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit on Nov. 15-16, will also hold a bilateral meeting with Peru's leader, according to Nikkei.

Resource-poor Japan has been actively reinforcing global supply chains for critical minerals - essential components for electric vehicle batteries, renewable energy and other technologies supporting a decarbonised society.

The two governments aim to create stable supply chains in Peru for critical minerals such as copper and zinc through technology provided by Japanese companies, the Nikkei said without citing specific sources.

In addition, Japan and Peru plan to compile a 10-year roadmap outlining concrete measures across five areas, including economic cooperation for securing mineral resources and energy procurement, personnel exchange and security, Nikkei said.

Japan's industry ministry was not immediately available for comment.

reuters.com

Japan’s opposition party to prioritise income tax reform

The Democratic Party for the People’s demands in policy talks with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito will include quickly addressing the so-called ¥1.03 million threshold and a temporary reduction in the consumption tax rate to 5%, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

According to a draft outlining all the policies on the agenda, the opposition DPFP will seek to prioritize a review of the annual income threshold above which people must pay income tax, and to lift the freeze on the so-called trigger clause to enable a temporary gasoline tax cut.

The draft consists of four sections – this fiscal year’s supplementary budget, year-end tax system reforms, political reforms and medium-term issues.

The DPFP wants to change the income tax system so that students working part-time and others who earn more than ¥1.03 million will not create a higher tax burden for their parents who claim them as dependents.

In the supplementary budget, the DPFP will call for air conditioners to be installed at gymnasiums that become key facilities in the wake of a disaster. It will also seek to reduce electricity and gas bills.

According to the draft, the DPFP wants the changes to the ¥1.03 million ceiling on tax-free income to become permanent. Consequently, the DPFP is calling for the total income tax exemption threshold to be increased to ¥1.78 million, including a basic deduction.

The draft also specifies that the DPFP wants to temporarily lower the consumption tax rate to 5% from its current rate of 10%.

The DPFP will press for the abolition of political activity funds that parties provide to their lawmakers, and for a third-party body to be established to monitor political funds before the end of the current fiscal year, which runs until the end of March.

DPFP Policy Research Council Chairperson Makoto Hamaguchi was to meet with his LDP and Komeito counterparts Friday and present his party’s wishes regarding the supplementary budget. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who also is LDP president, is scheduled to hold talks with DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki on Monday.

Japan's parliament reelects struggling leader Ishiba as prime minister

Japan's parliament reelected Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday after his governing coalition suffered the worst election loss in more than a decade.

Ishiba’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito together lost their majority in the 465-seat Lower House, the more powerful of Japan’s two-house parliament, in the Oct. 27 election due to continued voter outrage over financial misconduct by his party and its lukewarm response.

A special parliamentary session convened Monday to pick a new leader in a vote required within 30 days of a general election. In the past, these votes did not attract as much attention because an LDP leader was virtually assured to be prime minister. Ishiba beat top opposition leader Yoshihiko Noda 221-160 in the first runoff in 30 years.

Most of his previous Cabinet members will be reappointed, but Ishiba will have to replace three who lost their seats or were affected by the election results.

Since the election loss, Ishiba has refused to step down, saying is willing to cooperate with additional coalition partners to boost stability and help him pursue his party’s policies. Noda, head of the centrist opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, has sought to form an opposition coalition — but so far unsuccessfully.

Ishiba will struggle in the coming months as he must gain consent from the opposition on policies including the budget and other legislation.

He is eyeing a rising smaller, conservative opposition, the Democratic Party for the People, whose seats quadrupled to 28 under its popular leader Yuichiro Tamaki.

A Harvard-educated former Finance Ministry bureaucrat, Tamaki has proposed raising the basic tax-free income allowance and increasing take-home wages, ideas that attracted low-income earners and younger voters in the election. He only wants to cooperate with Ishiba’s party on policy — not as part of a coalition — since he wants to use his leverage to increase his party’s standing ahead of the next election.

Tamaki was recently stung by a magazine article exposing an extramarital affair, which he admitted to on Monday, adding to political uncertainty.

Ishiba’s government is preparing for his trip later this month to ASEAN and Group of 20 summits, as well as a possible meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on his way home.

Japanese official clarifies why prime minister Shigeru Ishiba was spotted ‘sleeping’ in parliament

Shigeru Ishiba, president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was seen dozing off in parliament on Monday where he was reelected as the prime minister.

Video footage showed Mr Shigeru briefly closing his eyes during a plenary session of the House of Representatives as the votes were being counted, leading to social media comments criticising his apparent drowsiness.

Late on Monday, the government’s top spokesman addressed a news conference to respond to questions about the prime minister’s health.

“The prime minister has been extremely busy working until late into the night, and I understand that he had a cold today and was taking cold medicine,” Yoshimasa Hayashi, the chief cabinet secretary, said. He said that besides the cold “there are no problems with his health”.

Some lawmakers, including a member of the opposition, criticised Mr Shigeru’s behaviour, suggesting it showed a lack of urgency. “If he was really asleep, that shows his marked lack of tension,” the unidentified lawmaker was quoted as saying by Kyodo News.

In the viral video, Mr Hayashi was seen looking at the prime minister with concern during the session on Monday.

In a closely watched parliamentary vote on Monday, Mr Shigeru was confirmed as prime minister, successfully clearing one of the initial challenges for his new administration. This comes after his LDP and its coalition partner Komeito failed to secure a majority in the recent Lower House election.

However, the video of him with his head down and eyes closed quickly overshadowed news of his confirmation, The Japan Times reported, as the clip went viral on the X, attracting numerous critical comments under the hashtag “#Ishibashushonoinemuri” or “#PMIshibaSnoozing”.

Nobuyuki Baba, leader of the Japan Innovation Party (or Nippon Ishin no Kai) said that while he believed Mr Shigeru was undoubtedly tired, his actions were “inappropriate” for the occasion.

“We were holding an election to decide the head of one of the three branches of government, so I think it would be inappropriate for one to take a rest during such an election,” he said.

Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba has 2nd medical checkup in 5 days

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba received a medical checkup on Wednesday for the second time in five days, amid concerns after he appeared to fall asleep during a parliamentary session.

The top government spokesman, however, dismissed fears that the 67-year-old leader has been unwell, saying there is "no health issue."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference that Ishiba had an around 30-minute examination at a healthcare facility in Tokyo on Wednesday and that "there is no impact on his official duties."

Ishiba, who took office on Oct. 1, also checked into a hospital in Tokyo on Saturday for about an hour and 50 minutes. Asked why he underwent a medical checkup again on Wednesday, Hayashi said, "I've heard it was a routine health check that had been scheduled before."

Regarding Wednesday's examination, a source close to Ishiba said it was arranged in advance of his planned visit to South America, which begins on Thursday, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and Group of 20 summits in Peru and Brazil.

Hayashi said Monday that a dose of cold medicine was to blame for causing Ishiba to apparently fall asleep during a parliamentary session, held to reelect him as prime minister following the House of Representatives election on Oct. 27, when the coalition of Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito lost its majority.

Japan PM Ishiba’s minority government walks a tightrope as opposition may call no-confidence vote at will

Monday’s runoff election in the Diet kept Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in office, but it also shed light on the difficulties he faces in managing a minority government going forward.

It was the first prime ministerial runoff in 30 years and only the fifth in history.

With the ruling parties having lost their majority in the Oct. 27 House of Representatives election, Ishiba, the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, survived the runoff thanks to invalid votes cast by members of the Japan Innovation Party and the Democratic Party for the People.

“As a result of the runoff, Mr. Shigeru Ishiba is designated as prime minister by the house,” lower house Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga declared at a special Diet session in the lower house Monday. Ishiba stood up from his seat, surrounded by applause, and bowed many times to people around him with no smile on his face.

Of the 221 votes Ishiba earned in the first round of voting, 197 were from a parliamentary group comprising LDP and independent lower house members including Koichi Hagiuda, Yasutoshi Nishimura and Hiroshige Seko, all of whom won seats in the last general election as independents, and 24 from the LDP’s coalition partner Komeito. In the runoff, Ishiba received the same 221 votes as in the first round of voting.

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda gathered a total of 151 first-round votes: 149 from a parliamentary group comprising the CDPJ and independent lower house members, and two from independent lawmakers outside the group, Jin Matsubara and Hayato Nakamura. In the runoff, Noda earned an additional nine votes, eight from the Japanese Communist Party and one from Nobuyuki Fukushima, who belongs to a parliamentary group of independent lower house members called Yushi no Kai. However, this gave him a total of only 160, so he lost to Ishiba in the runoff.

Ishiba managed to win the close runoff mainly because members of the JIP and the DPFP, the second and third largest opposition parties, and other opposition parties voted for their respective party leaders. In the runoff, votes are invalid if names other than those of the top two candidates in the first round of voting are written on them. For that reason, there were 84 invalid votes, which resulted in helping Ishiba win the runoff election.

However, the number of votes Ishiba gained in the runoff remained unchanged at 221. Regarding this, Noda told reporters at the Diet Building, “Since Ishiba failed to receive a majority [of 233 votes] in the runoff, he will face many difficulties in managing the government.”

A former cabinet member in the LDP said, “We are faced by a reality in which we will not be able to pass a single budget or bill without the cooperation of opposition parties and a no-confidence motion against the government can be passed if all opposition parties cooperate with each other.”

Hurdles

For Ishiba, the first hurdle is the debate on a supplementary budget for fiscal 2024, which includes additional economic measures. He will be quickly driven into a corner if the supplementary budget is not passed during an extraordinary Diet session to be convened later this year.

As for the DPFP, with which Ishiba hopes to cooperate, the LDP and the party are currently discussing reviewing the so-called ¥1.03 million barrier, referring to the threshold above which annual income is subject to income tax. Raising this threshold would effectively increase workers’ after-tax income. Some members of the government and ruling parties are cautious because such a move would greatly reduce government revenue, so it might be difficult to reach agreement on this issue.

“We will not help prolong the life of Ishiba’s Cabinet. If they do not carefully listen to the opinions of opposition parties, they will come to a deadlock easily,” DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki said. Given his strong attitude, Tamaki is unlikely to compromise easily with the ruling parties.

Members of the JIP, which has shown a fair and just attitude in dealing with Diet affairs, are increasingly dissatisfied with the LDP’s handling of political reforms during the previous Diet session. JIP leader Nobuyuki Baba said, “We have no intention to cooperate with the LDP.”

Even if the government passes the supplementary budget, it will be more difficult to gain support to pass a budget for fiscal 2025, which the government aims to pass in next year’s ordinary Diet session.

Concerns within the party

Ishiba also faces uncertainty within the LDP as his leadership within the party is deteriorating after the LDP’s major loss in last month’s lower house election. On Monday, the LDP showed unity as all members voted for Ishiba and there were no dissenters. However, a certain number of “anti-Ishiba” members exist within the party and they may emerge before the House of Councillors election next summer.

“Many members do not think Ishiba should continue to be in the position. For now, they just choose not to show an intraparty conflict to those outside the party,” a young lawmaker who is a former member of the Abe faction said.

Japan’s PM Ishiba to push ahead with political funds reforms in bid to restore public trust

Stung by the results of last month’s election, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has made it clear that he intends to make new legislation on political funding one of his priorities, with observers optimistic that Japan finally has a leader who can tackle the corruption that has long blighted local politics.

Ishiba was reconfirmed as prime minister on Monday, although his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) fared poorly in the October 27 election – losing 65 seats – and he now heads a minority government that will need the support of smaller opposition parties to pass legislation.

Voters turned their backs on the LDP for a number of reported reasons, including rising inflation and stagnant wages, but for many the party’s biggest failing was the scandal that erupted last year surrounding about 600 million yen (US$3.87 million) that was siphoned off by LDP politicians. Some 46 politicians were linked to the illicit funds, most of whom lost their re-election bids.

Aware of the public’s anger, which appears little dissipated, Ishiba has said he will push ahead with reforms to the Political Fund Control Law, which covers the money that parties distribute among their politicians. The recipients are not required to account for how the money is spent.

Ishiba is also proposing that Diet members be required to detail how they spend their monthly allowances, which are to cover the costs of travel, research and communications, and that any unused funds be returned to the government. In addition, Ishiba wants to create an independent body to monitor political funding and a database that would allow the public to access political fund reports.

The changes would be groundbreaking but almost certainly unpopular with politicians who have previously been able to avoid public scrutiny of their financial affairs, but Ishiba appears set on going ahead with his plans.

“He has a clear majority for carrying out reforms, it’s just not a majority of his own party,” said Michael Cucek, a professor of politics at the Tokyo campus of Temple University, pointing out that opposition parties against the LDP were also demanding changes and that they would support his legislation.

“Right now, he has the capacity to do this,” Cucek said. “The opposition parties said they were all committed to finance reform, and to say now that they are not would come back to cost them.”

And while many in the party are likely to be unhappy as the proposed changes, Cucek says they have little choice but to go along with them.

“It is the LDP leaders who dole these funds out, so there would be a real worry among any that oppose Ishiba that they would get support,” he said. “They will not want to antagonise him.”

According to Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor of politics and international relations at Waseda University, the LDP is still deeply divided internally, with the centrist Ishiba under pressure from more conservative factions that hold fast to the more right-wing positions of former prime minister Shinzo Abe.

Ishiba only narrowly defeated the hawkish Sanae Takaichi in the party’s leadership election in late September, and there is a sense that her supporters are biding their time and hoping that a misstep by Ishiba might give them the excuse they need to again challenge his leadership. Losing the election could have been that opportunity, although Ishiba appears to have attracted sufficient support – in part due to his promises on money in politics – to see him into next year, with the July election to the upper house of the Diet the next red-letter day.

“The changes that he is hoping to achieve will be difficult, but he is using this issue to keep the conservatives, the Abe followers, at a distance,” Shigemura said.

“Many of the politicians caught up in the scandal were from the Abe faction and this has weakened them. Ishiba is using this campaign to further weaken them, using their corruption to hurt them,” he said.

“Public opinion is on Ishiba’s side, along with the opposition parties, so it is difficult for the right to fight back. That makes me optimistic that these new laws will pass, because people have not forgotten the scandal and they are still very angry.”

South Korean President Yoon and Japanese PM Set for Key Summit in Peru

President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the sidelines of an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Peru this week, his office said Thursday.

Yoon and Ishiba will hold their second meeting on the margins of the APEC summit to take place in Lima on Friday and Saturday, and "affirm their firm commitment to developing relations between South Korea and Japan," which mark 60 years since the normalization of ties next year, the presidential office said in a press release.

Yoon is also scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings with the leaders of Vietnam, Brunei, Canada and other Asia-Pacific nations.

During the APEC summit, Yoon plans to condemn North Korea's involvement in Russia's war in Ukraine and outline South Korea's aims as host of next year's APEC summit in the southeastern city of Gyeongju.

Yoon is set to depart for a two-nation tour that will take him to Peru for the APEC summit and then to Brazil for a Group of 20 summit. (Yonhap)

Japan PM Ishiba, China President Xi to meet in Peru on Friday, Kyodo says

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is making arrangements to meet China’s President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gatherings in Peru on Friday, Kyodo News reported on Tuesday, citing a Japanese government official.

It would be Ishiba’s first summit meeting with the Chinese leader since becoming Japan’s prime minister last month, Kyodo reported.

Japan PM Ishiba, China President Xi to meet in Peru on Friday, Kyodo says

Japan, U.S. vow solid alliance under respective new gov'ts

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed Thursday that the two countries will maintain the close alliance under their respective new governments, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

It was the first foreign ministerial talks between the two countries since Donald Trump won the presidential election in early November and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba took office last month. Ishiba was reelected this week.

Iwaya and Blinken pledged to promote collaboration to "further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance's deterrence and response capabilities" in the meeting held in Lima on the fringes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum's ministerial gathering, according to the ministry.

The talks came as concerns are mounting in Japan about how Trump's skepticism about alliances under his "America First" banner could affect the two nations' security partnership after he is inaugurated next January.

Trump, a Republican, sealed victory by a comfortable margin over his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris.

Under incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden's presidency, Tokyo and Washington have been steadily bolstering their defense capabilities and interoperability amid China's growingly provocative military activities in the Indo-Pacific and North Korea's missile and nuclear development.

Iwaya told reporters after the meeting that Tokyo is ready to work with the next U.S. administration to build "a solid alliance," adding that he will make efforts to bring it "to new heights."

At the outset of the meeting, Blinken described strengthened trilateral collaborative ties with South Korea as "one of the significant achievements" of Biden's four-year tenure from 2021.

The ministerial meeting paved the way for the first summit meeting slated for the following day between Ishiba and Biden in Lima on the sidelines of a two-day APEC summit through Saturday.

Japan's reelected PM Ishiba vows to step up reform against funds misuse

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged to take tougher measures against misuse of political funds after he was reelected by parliament Monday following a major loss in the polls last month by his governing coalition.

Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito together lost a majority in the 465-seat Lower House, the more powerful of Japan's two-house parliament, in the October 27 election. The defeat was blamed on voter outrage over financial misconduct by his party.

We must remind ourselves of the basics that politics is for the people, as we tackle political and party reforms," Ishiba said. He said that in response to the poor election results, "We must be able to have empathy for the pain, sorrow and anger of the people.

A special parliamentary session convened Monday to pick a new leader in a vote required within 30 days of a general election. Ishiba beat top opposition leader Yoshihiko Noda 221-160 in the first runoff in 30 years.

In his second Cabinet in just over a month, Ishiba reappointed most of its previous members, including Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, Defence Minister Gen Nakatani and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi. He replaced three ministers who lost seats or were affected by the election results.

Ishiba stressed the importance of pursuing the significant buildup of Japan's defence power to deal with growing threats from China, Russia and North Korea, while cooperating with its ally the United States and other like-minded partners.

He said he plans to attend Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and Group of 20 summits later this month to further strengthen partnership with the Global South nations and the Asia-Pacific region. He said he will hold talks with US President Joe Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and other leaders.

His government is also reportedly arranging a possible meeting with President-elect Donald Trump on his way home.

Ishiba has refused to step down and showed willingness to cooperate with additional coalition partners to boost stability and help him pursue his party's policies.

Ishiba will struggle in the coming months to gain consent from the opposition on policies including the budget and other legislation, experts say. Ishiba said he will listen to opposition parties more carefully than before.

While we stick to the LDP-Komei partnership as the foundation, we will do our utmost to gain understanding of as many other parties as possible as we humbly work to ensure safety and security of the people, Ishiba said.

He wants to cooperate more closely with a rising smaller, conservative Democratic Party for the People, whose seats quadrupled to 28 under its popular leader Yuichiro Tamaki. His proposal for raising the basic tax-free income allowance and increasing take-home wages garnered support from low-income and younger voters.

Tamaki only wants to cooperate with Ishiba's party on policy not as part of a coalition since he wants to use his leverage to increase his party's standing ahead of the next election.

Tamaki was recently stung by a magazine article exposing an extramarital affair, which he admitted to on Monday.

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Japan PM Ishiba seeks meeting with Trump this month, following Abe example

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hopes to meet U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the United States this month, four sources said, in an attempt to emulate then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's close ties during Trump's first term.

The U.S. is Japan's most important economic and security partner, while Tokyo is a key Washington ally in Asia, providing bases that allow it to keep a large military presence on China's doorstep.

Ishiba told reporters he had held a five-minute phone call with Trump on Thursday morning Japan time and that they agreed to meet as soon as possible.

"I felt that he was very friendly. So from now on, I have the impression that we can talk frankly," he said.

Three of the people familiar with the planning, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Japan was aiming to arrange a meeting between Ishiba and Trump just after a Nov. 18-19 summit of the Group of 20 large economies in Brazil. The fourth source said Japan was aiming to arrange the stopover "around" the G20 meeting.

Trump's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ishiba wants to follow the example of Abe, the first foreign leader to meet with Trump after his 2016 election. Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, held the hastily arranged meeting at Trump Tower in New York during a stopover just over a week after that election.

Abe forged a close personal relationship with Trump, including hours on the golf course, which helped defuse several contentious issues between the allies, including defence spending and trade.

Ahead of Tuesday's U.S. election, Japanese officials had been stepping up efforts to rekindle relations with people close to Trump, fearing he might again hit Japan with protectionist trade measures such as tariffs on steel, and revive demands for Tokyo to pay more toward the cost of stationing U.S. forces in the country if he returned to office.

Trump has said a decades-old bilateral security treaty is unfair because it commits the United States to defend Japan but does not put similar obligations on Tokyo.

"If Trump says something like Japan is not pulling its weight in the alliance and in dealing with not just China but also North Korea, then you could see a movement toward changing that alliance," said Derek Grossman, senior defence analyst at RAND.

Asked about the troop costs on Thursday, Ishiba said he and Trump did not discuss it in their call. "Rather than focus on monetary amounts, we would like to vigorously discuss the strengthening of the Japan-U.S. alliance from various perspectives," he said.

Former U.S. official Michael Green said Trump "approaches every problem beginning with the question of what is in it for him. That makes allies nervous".

People around Trump, such as William Hagerty, ambassador to Japan during his first term and now a U.S. senator from Tennessee, could play a pivotal role in managing the Japan-U.S. alliance, said Green, who heads the U.S. Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

But unlike Abe, who led a stable administration as Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Ishiba heads a coalition that lost its parliamentary majority in an election late last month.

"Given the instability in Tokyo right now, I am not sure Ishiba enjoys these same things that enabled Abe to succeed," said Kevin Maher, a consultant who previously headed the U.S. State Department's Office of Japan Affairs. "He was the right person at the right time."

Japan PM Ishiba expresses concern to Chinese President Xi Jinping over South China Sea situation

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed "serious concerns" over the situation in the South China Sea to Chinese President Xi Jinping in their first in-person talks, Tokyo's foreign ministry said on Saturday (Nov 16).

But the pair agreed to work to expand cultural exchanges and continue high-level dialogue on the economy, both Tokyo and Beijing said after the talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru.

The meeting comes after Ishiba kept his job as prime minister in a parliamentary vote this week despite having led the ruling coalition to its worst election result in 15 years.

Relations between Japan and China have worsened as Beijing builds up its military capacity in the region and Tokyo boosts security ties with the United States and its allies.

Ishiba "conveyed serious concerns over the Chinese military's growing activity" to Xi, the Japanese foreign ministry said.

He stressed that "the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait is extremely important to Japan and the international community, while also expressing serious concerns over the situation surrounding the South China Sea, Hong Kong and Xinjiang".

China has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan in recent years to pressure Taipei into accepting its claims of sovereignty, which the island's government rejects.

Beijing has also in recent months pressed its sweeping territorial claims in the East and South China Seas more stridently.

A chain of uninhabited islands claimed by Beijing but administered by Tokyo, known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have long been a point of tension between the neighbours.

Xi said he hoped Japan would work with China to "properly handle major issues of principle such as history and Taiwan" and "manage differences constructively", according to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

China and Japan, "whose economic interests and industrial and supply chains are deeply intertwined" need to "pursue win-win cooperation and maintain the global free trade system as well as stable and unimpeded production and supply chains", Xi said.

Tokyo said they had agreed to "work towards realising mutual visits by respective foreign ministers, as well as the high-level dialogue on cultural exchange and economy".

Japan's PM Ishiba, Xi agree to work on 'constructive' bilateral ties

State President meets with Japanese PM on APEC meeting sidelines

At the meeting, PM Ishiba Shigeru emphasised said Vietnam is always a priority partner of Japan in the region.

President Luong Cuong affirmed Vietnam considers Japan one of its reliable, important and long-term partners, and supports Japan's active contributions to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The two leaders expressed their delight at the effective implementation of the Vietnam-Japan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World.

Discussing cooperation directions in the coming time, State President Luong Cuong proposed the two sides strengthen political trust, increase annual high-level meetings, promote substantive defence and security cooperation through the effective implementation of signed cooperation agreements.

According to him, the two sides need to strengthen economic cooperation - the main pillar of the bilateral relationship, and continue to expand comprehensive cooperation to new areas, such as digital transformation, green transition. He called on Japan to support Vietnam in personel training for the semiconductor industry with university degrees or higher by 2030.

Affirming that the affection and mutual understanding between the two countries' people are the foundation for promoting bilateral relations, President Luong Cuong suggested further deepening cooperation in human resources training, especially strategic-level managers, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, locality-to-locality collaboration, and tourism.

Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru agreed with State President Luong Cuong's proposals, affirming that he will direct ministries and agencies to concretise the new relationship framework.

The Japanese Government will continue to have policies to encourage and support foreign communities in Japan, including Vietnamese people to live, study and work in a convenient manner there. He highly valued the Vietnamese student community in Japan.

Also at the meeting, the two leaders affirmed to continue to closely coordinate on regional and international issues of mutual concern in order to actively contribute to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region and the world, and strengthen cooperation at multilateral forums, international and regional organisations, such as the United Nations, APEC, ASEAN, and Mekong.

https://en.sggp.org.vn/state-preside...ost113852.html

Japan PM confirms he will not meet with Trump on return from Brazil

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Saturday he will not hold an in-person meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on his way back to Japan from South America, despite his earlier desire to do so.

Speaking to reporters in Lima, Peru, Ishiba said Trump's team explained that the president-elect, who has received numerous requests for meetings from world leaders, cannot hold talks with them before taking office due to legal constraints.

Ishiba said, "I hope to hold talks with him at the most convenient, earliest possible time for both," expressing his eagerness to arrange a meeting following Trump's inauguration in January.

During a phone call in early November, Ishiba and Trump agreed to work together to elevate the bilateral alliance, with the prime minister telling reporters that he "got the impression" the president-elect is "friendly" and a person he "can speak honestly with."

Ishiba, who is on an eight-day trip for the summits of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru and the Group of 20 economies in Brazil, had explored the possibility of stopping in the United States afterward for a meeting with Trump.

Amid challenges such as China's growing military assertiveness and North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs, Ishiba has emphasized that the Japan-U.S. alliance is the "top priority" for his government's foreign and security policies.

On Friday in Lima, he held a brief meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and hailed the alliance as being stronger than ever.

Ishiba, who succeeded Fumio Kishida as prime minister on Oct. 1, is eager to establish a personal relationship with Trump, who had a rapport with then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his first term as president starting in 2017.

Shortly after the November 2016 presidential election, Abe rushed to Trump Tower in New York to meet with the president-elect and presented him with a golden golf club, paving the way to deepen their friendship. Both were avid golfers.

Abe, who resigned in 2020 for health reasons, was fatally shot during an election campaign speech in 2021.

Japan PM confirms he will not meet with Trump on return from Brazil