Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his first policy speech during a Diet session at the Lower House of the Parliament Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
The country’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba warned in his first policy speech that “today’s Ukraine could be tomorrow’s East Asia” while also dubbing the country’s low birth rate a “quiet emergency”.
“Many fear that today’s Ukraine could be tomorrow’s East Asia. Why did deterrence not work in Ukraine?” Ishiba told parliament yesterday.
“Combined with the situation in the Middle East, the international community is becoming increasingly divided and confrontational.”
Japan’s relations with China have deteriorated in recent years as Beijing asserts its military presence around disputed territories in the region and Tokyo boosts security ties with the United States and its allies.
In August, a Chinese military aircraft staged the first confirmed incursion by China into Japanese airspace, followed weeks later by a Japanese warship sailing through the Taiwan Strait for the first time.
Ishiba backs the creation of a regional military alliance along the lines of Nato, saying on Tuesday that the security environment in Asia was “the most severe since the end of World War II”.
Japan, like many developed countries, is facing a looming demographic crisis as its population ages and the birth rate stays stubbornly low. Last year its birth rate stood at 1.2, well below the 2.1 children needed to maintain the population.
Ishiba called the birth rate situation a “quiet emergency”, adding that the government will promote measures to support families such as flexible working hours.
He also said he wants to boost incomes through a new monetary stimulus package as well as support for regional governments and low-income households.
Within this decade, he said he wants to hike the average national minimum wage to ¥1,500 (RM43) per hour, up nearly 43% from the current ¥1,050 (RM30). — AFP
