TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on Wednesday (Sept. 13) appointed a new defense minister who is well-known for having a pro-Taiwan stance.
With his support ratings between 30% to 40%, and his tenure as president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) due to end next year, Kishida has reshuffled his Cabinet with 11 new members, including five women, reported the Liberty Times. Among the notable new additions is pro-Taiwan politician Kihara Minoru.
Kihara, who is serving in Kishida's Cabinet for the first time, is the secretary general of the Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council, a nonpartisan parliamentary group. He is considered a pro-Taiwan figure in the LDP, having championed Japan's donations of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan and the importation of Taiwanese agricultural products like pineapples.
Kihara and council chairman Furuya Keiji have visited Taiwan on many occasions, including leading a delegation to participate in Taiwan's National Day activities every year. In July, Kihara and Furuya jointly inspected Yonaguni Island and took a high-speed boat from Yonaguni Island to Yilan County with Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃).
Kihara, 54, has been elected five times to represent the Kumamoto 1st District in the Japanese House of Representatives. He also served as a special national security adviser to former prime ministers Abe Shinzo and Suga Yoshihide.
In mid-July, during a tabletop exercise simulating a Chinese attack on Taiwan hosted by the Japanese private think tank Japan Forum for Strategic Studies (JFSS) in Tokyo, Kihara played the role of Japan's defense minister and proposed that Japan use "counterattack capabilities" to resist a People's Liberation Army (PLA) invasion. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) establishment of a factory in Kumamoto has also further solidified Kihara's relationship with Taiwan.