Japan PM's debut summits with China, S. Korea reflect pragmatic foreign policy

News analysis

- Walter Sim Japan Correspondent

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi capped a busy week of diplomacy by calming regional jitters that her hawkish and ultraconservative views as a lawmaker would destabilise international relations.

Observers told The Straits Times that her foreign policy approach appears rooted in pragmatism and realism, not ideology, and prioritises continuity over conflict.

This was evident from her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Oct 31 and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Oct 30, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju.

Ms Takaichi, who became Japan’s first woman leader only on Oct 21, swiftly made her diplomatic debut at the Asean summit on Oct 26 before hosting US President Donald Trump in Tokyo from Oct 27 to 29.

The quickfire succession of engagements served as her introduction to the global stage. As a lawmaker, the 64-year-old had fostered close ties and proposed a “quasi-security alliance” with Taiwan, the self-governing island that China considers a renegade province, and expressed views on Japan’s wartime history deemed revisionist.

“Statements made as a member of Parliament differ from those made as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and as prime minister of Japan,” Dr Shin Kawashima, a Sino-Japan expert at The University of Tokyo, told ST.

South Korea’s President Lee has also similarly moderated his political positions. As opposition leader, he had denounced Japan as an “enemy nation”.

But he has since inherited his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol’s “shuttle diplomacy” approach, characterised by regular meetings between leaders to foster ties.