On October 21, 2025, Japanese politics ushered in a historic moment. On the afternoon of that day, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan held an interim general meeting at its headquarters in Tokyo, officially confirming that 64-year-old Takaichi Sanae was elected as the president of the Liberal Democratic Party. After voting by the House of Representatives of the Japanese Diet, Takaichi Sanae narrowly passed the appointment of prime minister, becoming the first female prime minister in the history of Japanese *.
In the evening, takaichi sanae held an inaugural press conference at the Prime Minister's residence. In front of the camera, she is wearing a navy blue suit skirt, a string of pearl necklaces and a pair of pearl earrings-this is the relic worn by her mother before her death, and it is also her "iconic accessory" on many important political occasions.
This costume, quickly triggered the outside world with the ex-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: Mrs. Thatcher as the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, originally with the Conservative Party blue costume as an iconic image, and often wearing pearl jewelry donated by husband Dennis, so the external world was crowned with the title of "Iron Lady".
More pertinently, sanae takaichi has publicly stated many times that Margaret Thatcher is her "most admired politician". According to Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun" report on October 22, 2025, Sanae Takaichi met with Margaret Thatcher as a representative of young members of the Liberal Democratic Party during the 1997 Tokyo International Forum. The two sides discussed conservative political ideas, national governance logic and other topics. The meeting was called "an important turning point in her political career."
During her campaign for the chairman of the Democratic Party, she repeatedly mentioned in her speeches that she wanted to be "Mrs. Thatcher of Japan" in an attempt to get voter support in the image of "hard and pragmatic".
However, just as the "Japanese Thatcher" reached the peak of power and announced his political blueprint, the clear warnings issued by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not seem to have been taken into account by her. The direction of Sino-Japanese relations has added more uncertainty with the new prime minister's inauguration.
Takaichi Sanae's political background
Takashi Saami's political career has always been deeply bound to the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. According to public information, Takashi Saami was born in Nara Prefecture in 1961 and was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1993. When Shinzo Abe became prime minister for the first time in 2006, she was appointed as a female director of the Liberal Democratic Party and became one of the core members of Abe's team.
During Shinzo Abe's second administration in 2012, takaichi sanae's political status was further improved: in 2014, she served as the president of the Liberal Democratic Party's government investigation, becoming the first woman to hold this important position in the history of the party; In 2017, he became Minister of Internal Affairs and General Affairs, responsible for key areas such as local administration and communication policy in Japan.
During Abe's more than eight years in power, takaichi sanae has always firmly supported the "Abe line", including promoting the revision of the peace constitution, strengthening the Japan-US alliance, and implementing the strategy of "free and open India-Pacific", and has been regarded by the outside world as "Abe's most loyal disciple".
After Shinzo Abe was killed in an attack in 2022, Sanae Takaichi continued to continue his political views within the Liberal Democratic Party, uniting with Abe members to form a "conservative core force." In this presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party, she won the support of most conservative members of the Liberal Democratic Party by virtue of the campaign slogan of "inheriting Abe's legacy", and finally defeated other candidates to be elected.
It is precisely based on this "political background" that China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded immediately after Takashi was elected prime minister. On October 21, 2025, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China said at a regular press conference: "We have noticed the latest changes in Japanese politics and hope that Japan will abide by the principles of the four political documents of China and Japan and pursue a positive and rational policy towards China. We will work with China to jointly safeguard the political foundation and correct development direction of China-Japan relations."
The statement appears to be moderate, and the principle is to draw a clear red line for China-Japan relations—the four Chinese-Japanese political documents (the China-Japanese Joint Declaration, the China-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty, the China-Japanese Joint Declaration, the China-Japanese Joint Declaration on Comprehensively Promoting Strategic Reciprocal Relations) are the political basis of China-Japanese relations, which clearly defines the principles of the two sides on the core issues such as historical issues, Taiwan, territorial issues.
Challenges in internal and external governance
In the past, Takashiro Takashi tried to create his political brand with the image of "Japan's Thatcher". However, comparing Britain during Margaret Thatcher's administration with the current Japan, it is not difficult to find that the national conditions faced by the two are essentially different. Her "Iron Lady" path is destined to be full of challenges.
When Mrs. Thatcher became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1979, Britain faced economic stagnation problems, but with its global colonial heritage, strong military power and a stable political system, it had the basis for a tough policy.
From a domestic political perspective, the self-government party, led by High City Mornington, formed the government in a “minority rule” gesture. In the 2025 Japanese House elections, the self-government party and its jointly ruling Communist Party won only 240 seats, not reaching more than half of the 465 seats in the House, and needed to rely on the support of other small parties to pass the bill. This political pattern means that the radical policies proposed by High City Mornington (such as amendments to the constitution, substantial increases in defence budgets) are likely to be resisted in Congress and difficult to implement smoothly.
The pressure on the economic level is even more severe. Data released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance in October 2025 show that the size of Japanese government debt has surpassed 12 trillion yen (about RMB 56 trillion), accounting for a share of GDP of more than 250%, ranked in the first place in the developed countries. Under such debt pressure, there is a serious fiscal contradiction in itself, both promising to reduce taxes to the people, abolishing the temporary tax rate on gasoline, and planning to significantly increase the defense budget.
Japan’s Chief Economist, Xiao Lin Junkie, said: “If tax cuts and expansion are implemented at the same time, the Japanese government will increase its fiscal deficit by about 10 trillion yen a year, which will undoubtedly exacerbate the debt crisis and ultimately undermine the stability of the Japanese economy.”
At the international level, the hard line of high-market early-money is not necessarily supported by its allies.The United States wants Japan to take on more "security responsibilities" in the Asia-Pacific region, but is not willing to see Japan as a "problem maker".
U.S. State Department on October 22, 2025, in response to the election of Prime Minister, said only "expecting to strengthen cooperation with the new government of Japan" and did not expressly support its constitutional expansion plan.In addition, Japan's relationship with neighboring countries also has many variables: the differences with South Korea on historical issues and territorial issues have not been resolved, and the dispute with Russia on the Northern Quaternary Islands (Russia's Southern Quill Islands) is still ongoing, and if Japan's Foreign Ministry continues to pursue hard diplomacy, it could further exacerbate regional contradictions.
More importantly, the deep bondage of the Chinese economy is the reality that the high market can not be avoided. China is Japan's largest trading partner, China's trade volume reached $3500 billion in 2024, Japan has more than 30,000 enterprises invested in China, involving automotive, electronics, machinery and other fields.
If the company is determined to push the “technological blockade” and “diplomatic confrontation” against China, the interests of Japanese enterprises will be the first to suffer.A survey released by the Japan Economic Groups Federation in October 2025 showed that 82% of Japanese enterprises believe that “stable Sino-Japanese relations are crucial for the development of enterprises” and 76% of enterprises oppose “restricting Sino-Japanese technological cooperation for political reasons”.
The attitude of the Japanese people also sounded the alarm clock for the rule of the high market early, Yahoo Japan survey conducted from October 21 to 22, 2025 showed that 58.1% of respondents listed "economic policy" as the topics of concern, only 10.7% of respondents focus on "diplomacy and security".This means that the Japanese people would rather want the new government to focus on solving people's livelihoods rather than engaging in "confrontational diplomacy".
conclusion
Historical experience has shown that Japanese political leaders tend to show tough gestures early in office, but as the rule advances, most of them turn to a pragmatic line. However, from the policy policy guidelines currently announced by High Market, she seems to be trying to break this rule and adhere to the Eagle line.
China's Foreign Ministry warns that the principles of China's four political documents should not be violated.If China wants to become a real "leader" rather than a short-lived "political passenger", it must be faced with the reality of China's relations: China has two profits, the struggle is wounded. Trying to "confront" in exchange for political capital to "block" China's development, will ultimately only bring Japan into a more serious domestic and foreign trouble.
The whole world is paying close attention to where Japan's first female prime minister will take Japan and what impact it will have on Sino-Japanese relations. But what is certain is that any attempt to touch China's red lines and harm China's interests will face firm countermeasures. The glory of "Mrs. Thatcher" has never been achieved through confrontation; and the "toughness" of ignoring reality will only eventually hit the cold "wall of reality."
Source of this letter:
1. Official website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "Regular Press Conference of the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 21, 2025"
https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/wjdt_674879/fyrth_674889/
Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The Full Text of the Speech of the Prime Minister of Japan's High-Stock Morning Shima
https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/announce/press/pm_speech/2025/10/index.html
Japanese Ministry of Finance: Report on Government Debt and Fiscal Expenditures for 2025
https://www.mof.go.jp/english/budget/finance_statements/index.html
4. Official website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan: "2024 Technical Security White Paper"
https://www.meti.go.jp/english/policy/economy/security/index.html
5. Yahoo Japan News: Poll Results After Takaichi Sanae was Elected Prime Minister
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/000000000000000000000000000000000000000000