Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledges to revise defence strategy, ease arms exports and boost supply chains in response to regional threats.
TOKYO: Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned of growing Chinese “coercion” and pledged a sweeping overhaul of Japan’s security posture in her first major policy speech since a landslide election victory.
Addressing parliament, she outlined plans to revise core defence documents, ease military export rules and strengthen critical supply chains to counter regional threats.
“Japan faces its most severe and complex security environment since World War Two,” Takaichi said. She pointed to China’s expanding military activity and closer ties with Russia, alongside North Korea’s advancing nuclear missile programme.
The government will accelerate a review of military export rules to expand overseas sales and bolster domestic defence companies. A ruling party panel has proposed scrapping limits that currently restrict exports to non-lethal equipment like body armour.
“China has intensified its attempts to unilaterally change the status quo through force or coercion in the East China Sea and South China Sea,” she told lawmakers.
Takaichi is hastening a military build-up that will double Japan’s defence spending to 2% of GDP. She also announced plans to establish a national intelligence council, chaired by the prime minister, to consolidate information from various agencies.
On the economic front, she proposed creating a Japanese version of the US Committee on Foreign Investment to screen overseas investment in sensitive sectors. Rules governing foreign land purchases will also be reviewed.
She pledged to reduce dependence on “specific countries” by strengthening supply chains with allies, particularly for critical materials like rare earths. Takaichi further promised to accelerate the restart of nuclear reactors idled since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
“A nation that does not take on challenges has no future,” she said in concluding her address. “Politics that only seeks to protect cannot inspire hope.”
