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PM Kishida tells voters only LDP can keep Japan safe from security threats, ahead of October 31 poll
- China’s military assertiveness and nuclear-armed North Korea are Japan’s main causes of concern
- He also plans to double defence spending to some US$100 billion to appeal to conservatives, even though most voters are worried about Covid-19 and the economy
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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has wasted no time in using the threats posed by regional rivals to boost his campaign ahead of the October 31 general election, declaring that only the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is capable of keeping the nation’s adversaries at bay.
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“The opposition parties cannot even reach a consensus on the Japan-US security alliance or the Self-Defence Forces, and we cannot let them run this country,” he told reporters on Thursday after announcing the dissolution of the lower house of the Diet. “The upcoming election is about choosing the future of Japan.”
Kishida, who only took over as premier earlier this month, did not identify the nations that he sees as a threat to Japan’s security, but China and North Korea are widely seen as the primary causes of concern.
The LDP this week announced that it would double defence spending if it won the election, with 2 per cent of GDP going to the military – a figure that translates to around US$100 billion.
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