Japan has vital strategic role in the Asia-Pacific

With Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s approval rating among voters down to 15.5 per cent, it was unlikely that Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party would countenance him leading it into next year’s election. But it will be unfortunate if the party uses his unpopularity and sudden decision to quit before he is dumped to change course from the major achievements of his three years in office, especially in doubling Japan’s defence spending and aligning it more closely with leading Western democracies, notably the US and Australia, in vital strategic pacts such as the Quadrilateral Alliance.

It was a political fundraising scandal involving LDP heavyweights that led to Mr Kishida’s plunge in the polls, not his strong leadership on a greater strategic role for Japan in the security of the Asia-Pacific region in the face of Chinese and North Korean aggression. As US ambassador to Tokyo Rahm Emanuel noted, the hallmark of Mr Kishida’s term was Japan’s involvement in the “web of partnerships” that have emerged in the Asia-Pacific to counter China’s malevolent ambitions and North Korea’s bellicose nuclear threats. “All future leaders of the US and Japan will work off that music sheet,” he said. Mr Emanuel once said Mr Kishida had “put a capital D next to Japan’s deterrence (capability)”.

The importance of Mr Kishida’s cautious steps away from Japan’s post-war pacifism cannot be overstated. Neither can his effectiveness in resolutely placing Japan in the vanguard of countries defying Beijing and unwilling to submit to its diktat.

A shaky economy, inflation running at 4.3 per cent and the political funds scandal involving senior politicians – including some who were followers of late prime minister Shinzo Abe – have taken their toll. If the LDP is to maintain its record of governing Japan almost continuously for seven decades since its foundation in 1955, it needs fresh leadership. But that must not be at the expense of turning away from Japan’s role in helping to defend the Indo-Pacific.

The policy Mr Kishida published in 2022 said the country was living through “the most severe and complex security environment” since the end of World War II. In seeking to double defence spending from 1 to 2 per cent of GDP, it highlighted the “challenge” posed by Beijing and aligned Japan with Western democracies against Russia’s lawless invasion of Ukraine.

Whoever the LDP elects to succeed Mr Kishida must be no less resolute in ensuring Japan’s place as an indispensable economic and strategic ally of the US and Australia.