TOKYO – In a landmark first address since taking office, Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, announced her administration’s commitment to expediting the enhancement of Japan’s defense capabilities. This comes amid escalating tensions involving neighboring countries such as China, North Korea, and Russia.

Assuming leadership on Tuesday as Japan’s first female prime minister, Takaichi steps in after a period of political instability. Her ascension follows internal party disputes and a series of electoral defeats that saw the ruling coalition lose its majority grip in both parliamentary chambers.

During her speech on Friday, Takaichi emphasized her intent to achieve an annual defense expenditure equivalent to 2% of Japan’s GDP by March, accelerating the timeline from the original 2027 target. Additionally, she plans to advance the revision of the nation’s security strategy, aiming for completion by the close of 2026. Historically, Japan updates its security strategy roughly every ten years, with the last revision occurring in December 2022.

This accelerated overhaul is in response to a shifting global security climate, highlighted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, Takaichi explained.

In her remarks to parliament, Takaichi expressed concern, stating, “The free, open, and stable international order that we were accustomed to is being violently shaken amidst a historic shift in the balance of power and intensifying geopolitical competitions.” She further noted that military maneuvers and other actions by nearby nations, specifically China, North Korea, and Russia, remain a source of significant alarm.

“Japan needs to proactively push for its fundamental buildup of its defense power,” she said.

Her pledge Friday comes days before U.S. President Donald Trump’s Oct. 27-29 visit to Tokyo for a summit, where she is expected to face tough demands from Trump, such as a further increase in Japan’s defense spending and more purchases of costly American weapons. Her meeting with Trump is part of a major diplomatic test that also includes two regional summits.

Takaichi said she plans to discuss with Trump further strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance while fostering the two sides’ personal relationship based on trust.

She noted that Japan needs to establish a constructive and stable relationship with China, but that there are “security concerns” between the two sides.

Her hawkish politics and views of wartime history, as well as her past regular visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which Asian victims of Japan’s colonial-era atrocities view as a lack of remorse, could undermine Tokyo’s relations with Beijing, experts say.

The upgrading of the security strategy may involve more offensive military roles for Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, further easing of restrictions on arms exports and increased military spending, but she did not elaborate on how she plans to fund them.

To achieve any of her pledges or policies, her minority government needs cooperation from the opposition.

Her immediate task at home is to tackle rising prices and sagging wages, and win back support from conservatives.

Her Liberal Democratic Party’s new ruling alliance with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party, which replaces an earlier coalition with the dovish centrist Komeito, has raised concerns about Japan’s further shift to the right.

Takaichi said Japan needs foreign workers to make up for the shortage of labor in the country, which has a rapidly aging and declining population, but only by allowing those who follow the rules.

“It is a fact that unlawful activity and violation of rules by some foreigners are causing the sense of unease and unfairness among Japanese people,” Takaichi said. “The government will respond decisively to these activities. It’s not xenophobia.”

Takaichi assigned Economic Security Minister Kimi Onoda to step up regulations on foreigners in Japan to “enforce compliance” and study possible regulations on land purchases by foreigners, many of them Chinese.

The move caters to some of the frustrated Japanese who are inspired by the “Japanese First” platform by the far-right Sanseito party. The populist surge comes as Japan, a traditionally insular nation that values conformity and uniformity, sees a record surge of foreigners needed to bolster its shrinking workforce.

Government statistics show crime rates among foreigners in Japan have fallen while their population has surged.