The Japanese cabinet has undergone a major change of blood, two hardliners on China have taken office, and Taiwan politicians have taken charge of the military.
A month after Abe's death, the Japanese cabinet achieved a major change of blood, and two hard-liners on China took office, among which politicians who had just completed the "channeling of Taiwan" would be in charge of the military. What kind of calculation is Kishida Fumio playing?
On August 10, the Entire Japanese Government resigned, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno officially announced the list of changes in Kishida's cabinet. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's younger brother Nobuo Kishi stepped down as Defense Prime Minister, and Shigeyuki Goto stepped down as Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, and was succeeded by Yasuichi Hamada and Katsunobu Kato. The two have held this position before, so they are not new.
It is worth noting that as recently as July 27 and 30, Koichi Hamada led a delegation to visit Taiwan and made inappropriate remarks on the Taiwan issue and the Diaoyu Dao issue, and he is a typical right-wing hardline fighter against China.
Kishida's letting such "Taiwan independence supporters" take charge of the military inevitably makes people worry that there will be greater conflicts and contradictions in Sino-Japanese relations in the future, and military confrontation will become more intense.
In addition, another person who is extremely tough on China has also entered the cabinet this time as the minister of economic security and security, and she is Takaichi Sanae. This hardcore Abe's henchman, who had links with the Korean cult "Unification Church" that indirectly killed Abe, is a well-known far-right politician who has made many extreme remarks. Some analysts from the outside world believe that the appointment of Takashi Early Seedling is intended to strengthen confrontation with China in the economic aspect.
In any case, placing these two hardliners on China into the cabinet is not a sign of friendship.
In addition, Kishida Fumio also has an intriguing operation, that is, to replace the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Hagi Ikuta Koichi. Hagida Koichi had ties to the Unification Church and had to change it, but Kishida transferred him to the position of chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's administrative investigation.
There is also a problem of understanding the aggressive acts of this Hagiuda Koichi against the Japanese army in World War II. On August 15 last year, he openly went to the Yasukuni Shrine to pay respects.
From this perspective, Kishida does not mind letting politicians who are unclear about World War II remain in power.
Earlier, it was believed that with the death of Abe, Kishida Fumio might take the opportunity to expand his power. However, judging from this cabinet reshuffle, he needs to balance all aspects of power, as exemplified by the entry of Abe's close associate Takashi Sanae into the cabinet. Kishida did this in the hope that he would be able to govern for a long time.
In fact, in addition to Takashi Sanae and others, this time there are many right-wing figures in power. Therefore, on the whole, Kishida must seek a balance of forces among various factions and ensure the strengthening of hard-line forces against China, at least not weaker than before.
With such an arrangement as a guarantee, Kishida can be more free to promote the process of "constitutional revision" and "national normalization". In the coming period, Japan's military trends deserve attention. The position and measures of the new defense minister, Yasuichi Hamada, on the Taiwan Strait issue deserves particular vigilance.
Of course, Japan's diplomacy and foreign strategy are largely controlled by the United States. Therefore, no matter how the Japanese cabinet is reorganized, the United States is still at the helm. Only by grasping this point can we grasp the initiative in relations with Japan.
