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Japan’s Takaichi stands up to China and wins big

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party scored a historic win earlier this month, positioning her as a leader of the free world. And China was the big loser in Japan’s nationwide balloting.

Takaichi’s party won 316 of the 465 seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Diet. This was the first time since World War II that a single party obtained a two-thirds majority there. The Japan Innovation Party, the Liberal Democrats’ coalition partner, won an additional 36 seats.

The Liberal Democrats won big largely because of Takaichi, who had become prime minister in late October. Japan’s first female leader impressed voters with, as CNN put it, “her notoriously strong work ethic, savvy social media game and charisma.” Beijing also unintentionally helped engineer the historic win.  

In response to a question from an opposition lawmaker on the floor of the Diet on Nov. 7, Takaichi said that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would constitute a “survival-threatening situation,” a term from Japan’s 2015 security law. In such a situation, a prime minister can mobilize the Self-Defense Forces, Japan’s military.  

Beijing’s reaction to her answer was swift and over-the-top. On Nov. 8, Xue Jian, China’s counsel general in Osaka, publicly called for Takaichi’s beheading. Then, after a barrage of propaganda and retaliatory economic measures, Beijing began especially belligerent military maneuvers. On Dec. 6, for instance, Chinese fighter jets in two incidents “painted” Japanese fighters with targeting radar, the last step before an actual shoot-down.

Takaichi, in the face of the Chinese onslaught, did not back down, and as a result her popularity soared, earning the nickname “Iron Lady.” The Japanese leader has publicly said that Margaret Thatcher has been one of her inspirations.

Takaichi’s defiance of Beijing sets an example for other free-world leaders, many of whom have recently trooped to the Chinese capital and acted meekly, even obsequiously.

Among them are French President Emmanuel Macron, who accomplished little in early December, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who concluded an unsatisfactory trip in late January. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is now in China, and President Trump, who insists on calling Xi Jinping a “friend,” will be flying there the last week of March.

Takaichi, on the other hand, has just shown that stiff resistance to Chinese belligerence can be the route to electoral success.

What will she do with her big majority? There is talk that Japan will, for the first time ever, amend its 1947vconstitution, probably beginning with Article Nine, titled “Renunciation of War.” Article Nine states that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.” According to its second sentence, “land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.” 

Because the language of Article Nine is unambiguous, Japan has denied itself the right to use force, even in instances of self-defense. Moreover, it makes the existence of the Self-Defense Force unconstitutional.

Nonetheless, Japan has continually interpreted and reinterpreted its post-war American-drafted constitution — it was imposed by Gen. Douglas MacArthur — to remove restrictions on the use of force. For instance, in December 2022, Tokyo said it had the right to engage in offensive counterstrikes. Still, with Article Nine in place, Japan cannot become, as the Japanese say, a “normal nation.” 

A big test for Takaichi is whether she begins the process for removing Article Nine. If she does, Beijing will howl. This month, for instance, its foreign ministry complained Japan “is seeking to revive its evil path of militarism.”

But Chinese complaints have fallen flat, because Asian countries are far more concerned about China’s militarism today than Japan’s militarism from eight decades ago. In Asia at this moment, it is China — not Japan — engaging in provocative military conduct across its southern and eastern peripheries. 

Takaichi’s election victory is already making a difference. This month, Japanese fishing authorities seized one of China’s trawlers in Japan’s exclusive economic zone off Nagasaki. It was the first Japanese seizure of a Chinese craft since 2022. 

For decades, Japanese leaders were deferential to China. But constant hectoring from Beijing has created widespread resentment in Tokyo. Up until last November, the reaction in Tokyo has been mild. That posture will almost certainly change. Japan’s prime minister now has, as the Japan Times correctly stated, “the needed political capital to confront Beijing on her terms.” 

Tokyo, under the management of a lady of iron, is already showing Beijing that it is no longer afraid. 

Gordon G. Chang is the author of “Plan Red: China’s Project to Destroy America” and “The Coming Collapse of China.” Follow him on X @GordonGChang. 

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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