Japan’s new leader may try to shake up the US military pact

• Shigeru Ishiba is to be named Japan’s prime minister on Tuesday.
• On Friday, he won the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.
• Ishiba has previously suggested that Japan’s military pact with the US should be revised.

Shigeru Ishiba, a former minister of defense and agriculture, is set to become Japan’s next prime minister.

The 67-year-old won the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Friday. He will be elected prime minister by the LDP-controlled parliament on Tuesday.

“By trusting people and telling the truth with courage and sincerity, I will do my best to make this nation of Japan a safe and secure country where everyone can live with a smile again,” Ishiba said after the results were announced.

Ishiba is a lone wolf who claims to read three books a day, according to Reuters. This was his fifth attempt at the top spot.

His leadership is likely to transform Japan’s military alliance with the US and have broader implications for the region’s security.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Ishiba wants to transform what he sees as an unbalanced military alliance with Washington.

The publication noted that Japan hosts approximately 55,000 US troops on its soil and bears most of the operating costs of these bases.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Japan has the largest number of permanently stationed US service members in the world.

Ishiba previously called for the conversion of US bases in Japan into joint US-Japanese operations. He also wants some Japanese soldiers to be permanently based in the US, according to the AP.

Ishiba is a vocal defender of democracy in Taiwan and called for an Asian version of NATO earlier this month, a suggestion the US rejected.

Addressing lawmakers ahead of the tour, he pledged to put “the heart of the party into protecting Japan, the local areas, the rules and the people of Japan,” according to The Guardian.

Some of the biggest military threats it will have to face include China’s increasing assertiveness, as well as China’s and North Korea’s missile tests.

On Wednesday, a Japanese destroyer reportedly crossed the Taiwan Strait as a countermeasure against China on the orders of his predecessor, Fumio Kishida, officials for Japan said. Yomiuri newspaper.

On the same day, China conducted the first known test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the Pacific Ocean in more than four decades.

However, Japan’s military is plagued by recruitment challenges and faces a manpower shortage. Japan has also struggled to ramp up its domestic arms production, with public opinion favoring the country’s pacifist tradition.

The US ambassador to Japan posted on X that he looks forward to strengthening the US-Japan alliance.

The yen rose more than 1 percent against the dollar after the results were announced. According to Reuters, markets were expecting hardline nationalist Sanae Takaichi to win.