Yesterday (10th) morning, all the first Kishida cabinet resigned. In the afternoon of the same day, at the plenary meeting of the Japanese Senate and Senate, the ruling party appointed Kishida Fumio as the 101st Prime Minister of Japan with a majority vote of approval, and the second Kishida cabinet immediately took office.
The outside world noticed that Kishida's two cabinets had only one difference: Lin Fang, the former scientific minister of the Ministry of Liberal Democratic Party, was replacing Motegi Toshimaru, who had already served as the Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party, as the Foreign Minister, and all other cabinet officials remained. The personnel change of
was not sudden. " Nihon Keizai " released a few days ago. Shikikishida had conveyed to the ruling party cadres the intention to appoint Lin Fangzheng as foreign minister. Reports at the time pointed out that Lin Fangzheng had served as the Japanese Defense Minister, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, and the Ministry of Culture and Culture, and also served as the president of the cross-party Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarian League.
It is the position of president of the Japan-China Friendly Parliamentary League, which has caused some controversy to this personnel change. Some people believe that Lin Fangzheng has served as president of the Japan-China Friendly Parliamentary League since December 2017, giving him the label of "pro-China" and found some of Lin Fangzheng's past remarks as evidence.
For example, at the reception for the 69th anniversary of the National Day held by the Chinese Embassy in Japan in September 2018 and the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship at the time, Lin Fangzheng, who was the Minister of Culture and Culture at the time, delivered a speech on behalf of the Japan-China friendly group. He said at the time, "Japan-China relations have long gone beyond the bilateral scope and have increasingly played an important impact on the prosperity and stability of the region and even the world. At present, Japan-China relations have ushered in spring. I hope that with the joint efforts of both sides, Japan-China relations will move towards summer in the future, and exchanges and cooperation in various fields will become more enthusiastic."
In July this year, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Lin Fangzheng also sent a congratulatory letter to the President and Executive Vice President of the China-Japan Friendship Association, saying that he expressed his sincere respect for the development achievements that the Communist Party of China has led China to achieve world-renowned development, and expressed his willingness to continue to deepen cooperation with the China-Japan Friendship Association, continuously enhance mutual understanding and friendly feelings between the people of the two countries, and promote the sustained and stable development of Japan-China relations.
Therefore, there are Japanese right-wing forces questioning Lin Fangzheng, and there are also concerns that "the attitude towards China may become softer." Japan's "Hyung Mai Shimbun " reported that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and current Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Aso Taro HTML both held a cautious view on the matter of Lin Fangmai's role as foreign minister, but Kishida "stubbornly" appoint Lin Fangmai as foreign minister.
On November 10, 2021, local time, in Tokyo, Japan, Japan's new Foreign Minister Lin Fang is leaving the Prime Minister's Office. (People's Vision)
Perhaps in order to "avoid suspicion", Lin Fangzheng emphasized on the TV political commentary program on the 8th that he is a "knowing the Chinese faction", but not a "fashioning Chinese faction". He also quoted the allusion of "knowing yourself and knowing your enemy, and being defeated in a hundred battles" in " Sun Tzu's Art of War ", saying that he is more suitable to deal with China, because "it is better to know your opponent well during negotiations than not knowing your opponent."
Despite being questioned, Lin Fangzheng finally took office as the Japanese Foreign Minister, and Taiwan is also worried about this. Some Taiwanese media pointed out that Lin Fangzheng's father Lin Yilang took the "pro-China route" and served as the president of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentary Alliance for many years. He can be called a "big of a pro-China parliamentary giant". Since 2017, he has also given the position of president to Lin Fangzheng.
article analyzed that the current "the situation is unforgivable". If Kishida stands pro-US, even if Lin Fang is serving as foreign minister, it will be difficult to "openly argue for too much for China", but when facing the Taiwan issue, he will probably "retreat" and will not "guard Taiwan" like Toshimitsu Motegi and others.
Just as Taiwan media was concerned, Japanese Sankei Shimbun Taiwan reporter Akio Yada made a statement on " Facebook " that although Lin Fangzheng had a good relationship with China, he was even more a "pro-American faction".
He said that Lin Fang has many friends in the American political circle. In the current context of Sino-US relations, Lin Fang, who is determined to be the Prime Minister, "cannot go too far on the road to being close to China."
Akio Yaadai is more worried about Japan's domestic political situation, because Lin Fangmao and Shinzo Abe have been in conflict for a long time. If he becomes Kishida's successor, the "pro-Taiwanese conservative forces" led by Abe may be gradually marginalized, and he believes that this is "not a good thing."
According to Japan Kyodo News , regarding the appointment of Lin Fangzheng, people around Kishida revealed that "this is a message to cultivate the successor of the Prime Minister and allow the Hirochi Hokkima (Kishida faction) regime to continue for a long time." Abe was originally considered dissatisfied with the personnel arrangements of the other side of Kishida, and the appointment of Lin Fangzheng as an important position may become the fuse of the new struggle.
. Today (11th), two things that happened in the Japanese political arena are particularly noteworthy. First, the "Hoda faction" of the Liberal Democratic Party held a plenary meeting and decided that Shinzo Abe will officially serve as the president of the faction. Abe's influence, which has made a comeback, cannot be underestimated. Japanese and Taiwanese media have also reported that Abe has plans to visit Taiwan, which will restrain the policies of Ta and Lin Fangmasato on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.
In addition, Lin Fang announced his resignation as president of the Japan-China Friendly Parliamentary Union at a press conference held today. He said: "In order to avoid unwarranted misunderstandings when performing his duties as a foreign minister, he has decided to resign."
The next direction of the Japanese government's foreign policy remains to be seen.
Source: Reference Message Network
