Overview
- The prime minister called the U.S.–Japan alliance the cornerstone of security policy and said she will meet President Trump during his visit starting Monday.
- She pledged to reach defense spending equal to 2% of GDP before the end of March, bringing the target forward by two years.
- While voicing concerns about China, North Korea and Russia, she said she seeks a constructive, candid dialogue with Beijing.
- Acknowledging labor shortages, she said some sectors need foreign workers but promised firm enforcement, adding oversight of foreign resident coexistence to an economic security minister’s remit.
- Governing with only a relative majority and a small reform partner, she outlined tax-hike-free stimulus goals as polls show high support (71% Yomiuri; 64% Kyodo) even as feminists fault her stances and a cabinet with only two women.