Foreign policy positions typically haven’t carried much weight in terms of winning support in leadership elections for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. But candidates for party president — and ultimately prime minister — in this year’s hotly contested poll have zeroed in on one particular topic to help galvanize support: China.
While the LDP’s once-powerful contingent of China doves have often kept candidates for the party’s top spot in check, this year’s election looks to be a different beast, with the top contenders staking out hawkish positions on Japan’s powerful neighbor.
Indeed, in the wake of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s shock announcement that he will step down at the end of the month, it's becoming increasingly clear that Japan’s shift toward a more hard-line approach to its dealings with China is unlikely to change, even as the country’s leader does.