On February 13, 2026, Japanese Prime Minister Takai Hayamitsu boldly called for early elections and achieved great success. The ruling party led by her, the Liberal Democratic Party, won a historic landslide victory, causing strong reactions in mainland China.
According to the senior journalist and columnist Nakazawa Keiji of Nikkei Asian Review, the aggressive actions by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) greatly assisted in the historical victory of the Liberal Democratic Party. The CCP finds it difficult to accept that their wolf warrior diplomacy not only did not intimidate Takai Hayamitsu and Japanese voters but instead triggered drastic changes in Japanese society, leading to the overwhelming success of the Liberal Democratic Party and Takai Hayamitsu entering an era of 2.0.
Hayamitsu became Japan’s first female Prime Minister on October 21, 2025. Her comments on the Taiwan issue in early November last year angered the CCP, leading to fierce personal attacks on Hayamitsu and significant influence on Japanese public opinion, prompting Japanese voters to unite around her.
This is the first time post-war Japan has faced such strong external pressure, leading to such drastic political changes. The election results indicate that under the intense onslaught from the CCP, voters took action at least subconsciously for self-preservation. Even in regions where the economy was impacted by the CCP’s prevention of Chinese tourists traveling to Japan, support for Hayamitsu remained strong.
Discussions on the Japanese election are a sensitive topic on Chinese social media, with many Chinese bloggers participating. Some bloggers who previously worked for CCP propaganda claimed that Japan had chosen a militaristic path, reflecting the arrogance of Japanese voters in the election results. While these claims may be absurd, they cater to the CCP’s intentions. These bloggers are well aware that if their opinions diverge from the official stance, their posts will be quickly deleted.
Occasionally, there are short critical posts where netizens criticize China’s Japan experts, demanding serious and rigorous analytical articles from them. Some netizens pointed out that China lacks experts knowledgeable about Japanese affairs, leading to a misjudgment of the political trends in Japanese society and ultimately resulting in the overwhelming victory of Hayamitsu.
Nakazawa’s article suggests that policy-making towards Japan should be based on objective and accurate analysis. However, over the past 25 years, the number of Chinese researchers specializing in Japan has significantly decreased, indicating that the CCP underestimated Japan.
On November 7 last year, Hayamitsu stated in the Japanese parliament that if the CCP attacks Taiwan, it threatens Japan’s survival and Japan has the right to self-defense. Subsequently, the CCP demanded Japan retract this statement and took retaliatory measures, such as reducing Japanese flights, delaying the resumption of importing Japanese seafood, and imposing controls on rare earth and key mineral exports.
Despite the intense personal attacks by the CCP on Hayamitsu, their actions failed. Encouraged by overwhelming popularity, Hayamitsu boldly announced early elections, and the Liberal Democratic Party won 316 seats, exceeding two-thirds of the 465 total seats. The long-standing constitutional revision goal of the Liberal Democratic Party is now within reach.
Hayamitsu plans to amend the post-war constitution by incorporating the Japan Self-Defense Forces, a move that the ruling coalition with the Japan Innovation Party also aims to achieve, drawing displeasure from the CCP.
Nakazawa Keiji points out that it is currently unclear how the CCP’s diplomatic policy mistakes and Hayamitsu’s victory will impact their relationship. To save face, the CCP is unlikely to suddenly soften its hardline stance towards Japan. Hayamitsu may follow the successful experience of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in gradually improving the tension between the two countries.
Furthermore, Xi Jinping’s tough stance on Taiwan seemed to have backfired, helping the Democratic Progressive Party to continue its governance for three consecutive terms. In contrast, the Kuomintang, which advocates for better relations with the CCP, has not won a presidential election since 2012.
After Hayamitsu’s election, her power base has significantly strengthened, and her top diplomatic agenda is to visit the United States. President Trump expressed his full support for Hayamitsu on social media before the election, drawing the attention of the CCP. Trump is set to visit China in April.
Hayamitsu stated in a press conference on Monday that Japan is open to various forms of dialogue with China, responding calmly and properly from the perspective of national interests.
Nakazawa mentions that Hayamitsu’s upcoming visit to the U.S. will demonstrate the unbreakable trust between Japan and the United States, which will have a significant impact on the future of Sino-Japanese interactions.