Takaichi, Opposition Party Heads Trade Jabs on Taiwan, Economic Policies

By Kojiro Tanikawa and Tatsuya Tanoue / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

16:47 JST, November 27, 2025

With Japan-China ties strained by a recent remark she made regarding Taiwan, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi repeatedly gave measured responses to questions on the issue Wednesday during the first party leaders’ debate held since she took office.

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda did not press Takaichi hard for more in-depth answers on this issue, as both sides sought to avoid sparking further friction with China. However, Takaichi and Noda traded verbal blows when the debate pivoted to economic policy.

Beijing reacted angrily after Takaichi said, in response to a question in a Diet committee on Nov. 7, that a contingency involving Taiwan could become a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Noda criticized Takaichi for “acting arbitrarily” and making a “thoughtless” remark. Takaichi explained her position by saying, “I hadn’t wanted to get into specifics, but if I repeated the government’s previous answers again and again, it was possible that the Budget Committee could be stalled.”

Takaichi made the comment during a response to repeated questioning by the main opposition CDPJ’s Katsuya Okada, a former foreign minister, during a session of the House of Representatives Budget Committee. During Wednesday’s leaders’ debate, she told Noda that she answered as she did on Nov. 7 because Okada has specifically focused his questions on a Taiwan contingency. Otherwise, she stuck to repeating the government’s conventional position on the issue on Wednesday.

Noda did not hound Takaichi over her Taiwan comment. Ultimately, Noda drew a line under the issue by saying: “You must explain the issue by repeating the government’s stance again and again. Be careful not to overstep the line.”

According to a Yomiuri Shimbun nationwide public opinion survey conducted from Friday to Sunday, 56% of respondents — a majority — said they highly rated the Takaichi Cabinet’s stance toward China. The CDPJ apparently decided that continuing to pressure Takaichi over the deterioration in bilateral ties stemming from China’s unilateral umbrage at her comment was pointless. “It won’t lead to more support for our party,” a senior CDPJ official told The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Noda even offered some indirect support for Takaichi after the debate. “I considered the fact that she didn’t mention any specific examples as a de facto retraction,” Noda said to reporters.

Jabs traded on economic policies

However, neither leader pulled any punches when the debate turned to Takaichi’s economic policies.

Noda blasted the government’s comprehensive economic stimulus package, which ballooned to about ¥21 trillion, as an example of “irresponsible financial policy.” Takaichi fired back that Noda was “missing the point.”

“My flexibility and my frankness are my good points,” Takaichi said, cracking a smile. “I listened to the opinions of the opposition parties and included many of them.”

Noda also touched on the fate of the administration of former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, whose policies triggered a major economic “shock” marked by a government bond sell-off, a falling pound and lower British stock prices. Noda noted that Takaichi has spoken of her desire to emulate former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and added, “But make sure you don’t end up like Truss.”

Takaichi bristled at this comment, saying that the state of the current account balance in Japan was “completely different” from that of Britain. “As things stand, a ‘Truss shock’ could not occur here,” Takaichi said.

The debate between Takaichi, who is the Liberal Democratic Party president, and Noda ended on a head-scratching note with the CDPJ leader calling for regulations on political donations by companies and organizations. However, Takaichi replied to this with a seemingly unrelated request of her own. “Rather than dealing with that, let’s work together on reducing the number of lower house seats,” she said.

PM woos Tamaki

After her at-times combative interactions with Noda, Takaichi was largely on the same wavelength as Democratic Party for the People leader Yuichiro Tamaki during their debate.

Takaichi responded positively to Tamaki’s call to have the income threshold above which people must pay income tax — the so-called income barrier — raised to ¥1.78 million. “Let’s overcome that obstacle together,” Takaichi said warmly.

Tamaki indicated that should the threshold be lifted, his party would support the passage of a supplementary budget for fiscal 2025. He also touched on hiking salary and income deductions that reportedly would be implemented with a relatively low impact on revenue. Takaichi supported this idea.

“We’ve started to overcome some obstacles,” Tamaki said to reporters after the debate. “If progress is made on dealing with the income barrier, our level of cooperation will grow.”