Overview
- Hong Kong’s Legislative Council election produced a pro‑Beijing sweep with turnout at 31.9%, with final seat allocations expected to be confirmed on December 8 under rules that exclude the democratic camp.
- Reports say a Chinese military aircraft radar‑illuminated a Japan Air Self‑Defense Force plane, heightening tensions and prompting claims Beijing is waging an information campaign as Tokyo pushes back on China’s assertions.
- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told the Diet that any designation of an existential crisis enabling collective self‑defense would be a comprehensive, case‑by‑case government judgment consistent with the Abe‑era stance.
- Former diplomats and academics, including ex–treaty bureau chief Kazuhiko Togo and Professor Kumiko Haba, held a news conference urging the prime minister to retract her Taiwan‑contingency remarks.
- Japan’s Osaka High Court opened the second‑instance trial for the ex‑wife acquitted in the Wakayama ‘Kishu no Don Fan’ murder case, while Hokkaido authorities probed suspected unauthorized access to an education data service as Sapporo reported declines in recognized bullying and elementary–junior high absenteeism.