American observers should learn the right lessons from this week’s landslide victory by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party in Japan’s Lower House elections. Among the most important for Washington is this: China’s threats against Indo-Pacific neighbors have created new opportunities for the United States to shore up its regional alliances — but only if the U.S. government advances an affirmative vision backed by concrete action and clear priorities.
In November, Japan found itself in the crosshairs of a fierce outburst from Beijing after Takaichi spoke publicly about Tokyo’s potential response to a military crisis in the Taiwan Strait. While Takaichi did not proclaim a change in Japan’s policy, China’s response was ferocious, with one Chinese diplomat even threatening to “cut off” Takaichi’s “dirty neck.”
Beijing’s response took a dangerous turn in December when Chinese fighter jets reportedly locked their radars onto Japanese military aircraft that were operating near Japan’s southernmost islands. A State Department spokesperson rightly condemned Beijing’s behavior as “not conducive to regional peace and stability,” though some experts have argued that Washington should have done much more to stand with Tokyo during the flare-up.
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