LDP President Hopefuls Discuss Boosting Defense Strength; Offer Contrasting Views on Nuclear Deterrence, Countering China

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, September 14, 2024

As Japan faces an increasingly harsh security environment, one of the main points at issue in the Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election is what concrete measures to take to boost Japan’s defense capabilities. Of particular concern in discussions among the candidates is how to respond to China, which is rapidly building up its military nuclear capacity and strengthening its hegemonic moves.

“Japan needs to deploy its own nuclear submarines,” digital minister Taro Kono asserted on a Fuji Television program on Thursday. He insisted that the introduction of nuclear submarines would “make it difficult for the Chinese navy to move out into the Pacific at will.”

Nuclear submarines are able to cruise underwater for long periods and travel at high speeds. But they are more expensive than the conventional submarines that the Self-Defense Forces already have.

LDP Secretary General Toshimitsu Motegi showed a cautious stance toward their deployment, saying he does not consider it a high priority.

Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi takes the position that Japan’s three non-nuclear principles need to be reviewed. “[The principles] run counter to the idea of ‘extended deterrence,’ that we will gain deterrent power from being under the nuclear umbrella of the United States,” she pointed out on a BS Nippon TV news program on Monday.

Former LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba has called for the establishment of an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization aimed at boosting deterrence. This would amount to “building a system of collective security in the Asian region,” he explained during a policy speech event of the candidates on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa has stressed her intention to focus on promoting collaborations with Japan’s allies and like-minded countries. “Diplomacy is the first keystone of security strategy,” she said during the Wednesday press conference at which she announced her candidacy.