Bishop: Beijing's reaction to Takaichi strengthened Japanese defense hawks' mandate
Bill Bishop · FULL INTERVIEW: Bill Bishop Thinks China’s Military is Still Deeply Corrupt · Feb 10, 2026 · at 28:03
Sinicism publisher Bill Bishop analyzes the geopolitical aftermath of Japan's election and Beijing's diplomatic friction with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi over Taiwan.
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“I mean, I think that the Chinese helped Takeichi because their reaction to her comments in, in early November, which again, she said, she reiterated the Japanese position on sort of a Taiwan contingency, so to speak. She said it in a setting where it hadn't been said before by sitting prime minister, And, you know, but their reaction really, I think, helped make her case and other sort of more defense hawks in the Japanese government make their case that we need to do more because China's a threat. And so now she really has a mandate.”
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