Japan PM Kishida to reshuffle Cabinet, replace defence minister amid Taiwan escalation

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday scrambled to reshuffle his Cabinet to effectively address the pressing issues for his ruling government including the Chinese military's escalation in the Taiwan Strait, the coronavirus, and the uncontrollable inflation due to Russia Ukraine war, Tokyo's economy, increasing inflation among others, Kyodo news reported. He is also under mounting pressure to change the staff to the religious group Unification Church and renew its relationship with the ruling party lawmakers after former prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated. 

While Japan's premier Kishida did not divulge many details about his cabinet reshuffle, Yomiuri daily reported that he would likely replace his Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi due to the latter's ongoing health issues. The move comes amid heightened regional tensions between Tokyo's neighbour self-ruled Taiwan and mainland China over US Speaker's provocative visit. Kishida's intent to reshuffle the Cabinet was made known in early September after he held a state memorial service for former premier  Abe who was fatally shot. The Cabinet is being shuffled after Kishida's conservative coalition government had a landslide victory by a majority in the upper house of parliament in the July elections. 

"I've been always thinking about making a new start with new members, given the challenges," Kishida said at a press conference in Hiroshima held during an event to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

Japan calls for Taiwan-China 'stability'

At the ASEAN-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi called to diffuse the China-US-Taiwan tensions via a peaceful resolution after US House Speaker Pelosi's controversial visit to the self-ruled island triggered military escalation. Hayashi stressed maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted live-fire exercises with artillery and missiles using Pelosi's visit as a pretext of aggression.

Japanese minister also expressed Tokyo's steadfast commitment to the self-ruled democratic island and pushed for mainland China to exercise restraint. Japan views the security of Taiwan as directly linked to its own national security as the Chinese PLA build-up around the island overshadows its own defences located just 110 km (68 miles) in East Asia.