Japanese PM Fumio Kishida vowed on Monday to prioritise tackling the “severe” regional security concerns and his country’s rapidly declining birth rate.
Declining Birth Rate
At the opening Diet session for this year, Kishida remarked that Japan is “on the cusp” of losing the grip on its “societal functions.”
“It is now or never when it comes to policies regarding births and child-rearing — it is an issue that simply cannot wait any longer,” he added.
To tackle this, the Japanese PM vowed to “create a children-first economy and society” that will help encourage births, the decline of which is hampering longer-term economic growth.
Accordingly, Kishida vowed to shift his government’s focus to improving and introducing conducive childcare policies as the most pressing agenda item this year, which he stressed would be “the most effective investment for the future.”
It wasn’t due to fall this low until 2028.
— World Economic Forum (@wef) January 31, 2022
Read more about Japan's shrinking birth rate: https://t.co/JYNVFabMTV pic.twitter.com/aYnbqX3lHv
He further announced that the Children and Families Agency, a new governmental body to oversee child policies, will be launched in April.
Additionally, by June, the government will outline a course of action that aims to double the future budget allocated for child-rearing.
“We will consider how society as a whole can stably support children while making various efforts,” the PM said.
Kishida’s announcement comes after a government estimate released last month showed that annual births in Japan fell below 800,000 for the first time in 2022.
Regional Security Concerns
Kishida said that Japan is currently facing the “most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II,” and is forced to acquire the capability to “protect the people’s lives in an emergency.”
He stressed that while negotiating through diplomatic channels should be prioritised, “defence power to back it up” is required as well.
🇯🇵 This week Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio ordered Japan’s defense and finance ministers to make plans to increase the country’s annual defense budget to 2% of gross domestic product by 2027. It has long been capped at 1% pic.twitter.com/nvoQdIEgl8
— Council on Foreign Relations (@CFR_org) November 30, 2022
The PM assured that the “drastic turnaround” of Japan’s defence policy, which largely aims to counter growing Chinese aggression, would remain within the limitations of its pacifist constitution and international law, as many Asian countries were victims of Japanese wartime aggression.
“I make it clear that there will not be even a slightest change from Japan’s non-nuclear and self-defence-only principles and our footsteps as a peace-loving country,” he assured.
Regarding China, Kishida added that he hoped to maintain dialogue with President Xi Jinping, to maintain “constructive and stable relations.”