China panics after Takaichi declares intention to remilitarize Japan

Published February 10, 2026 1:47pm ET



The comprehensive electoral victory of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi over the weekend secured the Liberal Democratic Party a two-thirds majority in the Japanese Diet, a broad and inarguable mandate for her proposed nationalist revival.

Following her victory, Takaichi was not coy about her policy ambitions — stating firmly on Monday that her goal is to rewrite the Japanese constitution to remilitarize the islands.

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