Japan’s new Prime Minister Ishiba vows to push a strong defense under the Japan-US alliance

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged to stick to the vital Japan-U.S. alliance while calling for it to be more equitable after he took office Tuesday vowing to tackle a slow economy and regain public trust before an upcoming election.

Shigeru Ishiba replaced Fumio Kishida, who stepped down to pave the way for a fresh leader after scandals dogged his government.

In a show of Japan’s respect to its most important ally, the United States, Ishiba spoke by telephone with President Joe Biden early Wednesday and told reporters he reassured Biden of his plan to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance that Biden and Kishida have significantly elevated.

His new Cabinet emphasizes defense and a majority of its members, including Ishiba himself, are unaffiliated with factions led and controlled by Liberal Democratic Party heavyweights, and none is from the late Shinzo Abe’s faction that has been linked to damaging misconduct.

Speaking to reporters at the prime minister’s office for the first time following a palace ceremony, Ishiba called for stronger military cooperation with like-minded partners. He has been vocal about his wish to form a NATO-like alliance in the region.

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He said that one of his policy’s main goals was to protect Japan as “the security environment surrounding us is the toughest since the end of World War II.”

Ishiba renewed his proposal of a more equal Japan-U.S. security alliance, including joint management of U.S. bases in Japan and having Japanese bases in the United States, which would require changes to a bilateral forces agreement. He called the current alliance “asymmetrical.”

“The measure would contribute to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance,” Ishiba said. “I’ve advocated the idea for more than 20 years and obviously it’s not going to happen suddenly just because I became prime minister.” He also said he hadn’t assigned the matter to his Cabinet as an urgent task. “But I will not give up and will steadily work on it.”

He said Wednesday that he did not raise the issue on his call with Biden but would find the chance to do so later.

Ishiba said he told Biden that he will strengthen Kishida’s defense and diplomatic policies while bolstering networks that include South Korea and other like-minded countries. Japan’s national security strategy adopted by Kishida’s government in 2022 calls for accelerating a Japanese military buildup.

Ishiba earlier said he would call for a snap election on Oct. 27 and named former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi to head the party’s election task force. On Tuesday, he said he intended to dissolve the lower house on Oct. 9 so his new administration could obtain “the people’s verdict” as soon as possible.

During Tuesday’s parliament session, opposition leaders criticized Ishiba for announcing such a plan before even becoming prime minister and allowing only several days for his policies to be examined and discussed before a national election. They delayed the vote required to approve his new post for about half an hour, despite not having the power to affect it, signaling a rocky beginning for Ishiba.

Ishiba appointed several ministers who voted for him in the party leadership poll, including two former defense ministers with whom he had worked closely — Takeshi Iwaya as foreign minister and Gen Nakatani as defense chief. He retained Kishida’s top confidante, Yoshimasa Hayashi, as chief Cabinet secretary and appointed Katsunobu Kato as finance minister.

Only two of the 19 ministers are women: actor-turned-lawmaker Junko Mihara as children’s policy minister and Toshiko Abe as education minister. The government is under pressure to increase the number of women in public office. Women now account for only 10% of the lower house, placing Japan near the bottom of global gender-equality rankings.

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