Japan and China
I think [Prime Minister Takaichi] she is quite determined about Japan's security and defence, but she has no aggressive intentions regarding China and Taiwan. But I think you're right about having unsettled Beijing because...Prime Minister Takaichi, even before she reached this level, had expressed opinions about Japan's history which don't have the same sort of regret and shame and reflections on Japanese aggression as they would like to hear in Beijing, and that's something that they expect. So that was one thing. The comments she made about Japan being affected by a potential conflict between China and the US over Taiwan added to that and quickly spiralled into a kind of quite virulent attack on her and on the idea of Japanese militarism or remilitarisation. So yes, they are unsettled. And this election result, where despite the people you were interviewing in Japan, obviously a lot of the electorates in Japan did support her leadership. So I think that that must get across in Beijing a message that Prime Minister Takaichi is not unrepresentative in having these strong feelings about Japan."
