TOKYO — Lawmakers in Japan voted Monday to retain the embattled Shigeru Ishiba as prime minister despite his long-governing party’s dismal showing in parliamentary elections last month.
Ishiba, a straight-talking former defense minister, received 221 votes compared with 160 for Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party.
Many Japanese officials assume Trump is going to be “more straightforwardly anti-China,” and that Japan will be “somehow miraculously left off the hook,” he said.
Though Japan has already pledged to double defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product by 2027, “that’s probably not going to be enough to satisfy Trump,” Boling said.
While Abe was “extraordinarily skillful” in dealing with Trump, Ishiba has a different personality, Boling said.
Persons:
Shigeru Ishiba, Ishiba, Donald Trump, Yoshihiko Noda, ” Ishiba, Yuichi Yamazaki, Trump, Koichi Nakano, Shinzo Abe, ” Nakano, David Boling, “ that’s, ” Boling, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Takahiro Mori, Abe, Boling, “, I’m, Jeff Kingston, ” Kingston, Arata Yamamoto, Jennifer Jett, Peter Guo
Organizations:
Lawmakers, Liberal Democratic Party, Constitutional Democratic Party, Getty, Trump, Japan Relations, NBC News, U.S, Eurasia Group, Nippon, Pittsburgh, . Steel, Democratic, Nippon Steel, United Steelworkers, ”, Japan
Locations:
TOKYO, Japan, Washington, Tokyo, China, Russia, North Korea, U.S, York, Japanese, Pittsburgh, ” Japan, United States, Temple, Hong Kong