Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli took oath as the prime minister of Nepal for the fourth time at a special function at the president's office in the capital city of Kathmandu on Monday (Jul 15).&nbsp;Alongside Oli, two deputy prime ministers and 19 ministers took the oath of office.&nbsp;

Oli, leader of the largest communist party in the Himalayan nation, was named the PM, following the collapse of the coalition government. He succeeds Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda who lost the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives last Friday (Jul 12), leading to the formation of the new government as per Article 76 (2) of the Constitution.

In the 275-member House, 138 is the minimum number required to run a government. Oli managed to submit signatures of 166 lawmakers in his support (Congress' 88 and UML's 78) to stake the claim.&nbsp;

Oli&nbsp;is widely seen as being pro-China,&nbsp;and Kathmandu’s ties with Beijing are expected to become closer in his tenure, the news agency PTI reported.

<h2>Modi congratulates new Nepal PM</h2>

In a post on X, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Oli. "Look forward to working closely to further strengthen the deep bonds of friendship between our two countries and to further expand our mutually beneficial cooperation for the progress and prosperity of our peoples," Modi said.

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Thank you, Prime Minister <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@narendramodi</a>, for your warm congratulations. I am committed to working closely with you to strengthen Nepal-India relations for our mutual benefit. Together, we can elevate our historic ties to new heights.
— K P Sharma Oli (@kpsharmaoli) <a href="https://twitter.com/kpsharmaoli/status/1812795306859429935?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
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In response, the new&nbsp;Nepal PM said, "Thank you, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for your warm congratulations. I am committed to working closely with you to strengthen Nepal-India relations for our mutual benefit. Together, we can elevate our historic ties to new heights."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/nepal-kp-oli-stakes-claim-to-become-pm-after-prachanda-loses-trust-vote-740416">Also read |&nbsp;Nepal: KP Oli stakes claim to become PM after Prachanda loses trust vote</a>

<h2>Breakup of the new government:&nbsp;</h2>

KP Sharma Oli: Prime Minister&nbsp;

Of the 21 ministers, 10 are from Congress, eight&nbsp;from UML, two&nbsp;from JSP and one&nbsp;from LSP

Congress &nbsp;

<ol>
	<li>Ramesh Lekhak- Ministry of Home Affairs</li>
	<li>Arzu Rana Deuba- Ministry of Foreign Affairs&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Pradip Paudel - Ministry of Health and Population&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya - Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Badri Prasad Pandey - Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Deepak Khadka- Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Prakashman Singh- Deputy PM &amp; Ministry o Urban Development&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Ain Bahadur Shahi- Ministry of Forest and Environment &nbsp;</li>
	<li>Ramnath Adhikari- Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Tejulal Chaudhary-Ministry of Youth and Sports&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

UML&nbsp;

<ol>
	<li>Bishnu Poudel- Deputy PM &amp; Finance Ministry&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Prithvisubba Gurung- Ministry of Communication and Information Technology</li>
	<li>Manbeer Rai- Ministry of Defense&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Devendra Dahal- Physical infrastructure&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Raj Kumar Gupta- Federal Affairs and General Administration&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Bidya Bhattarai- Education, Science and Technology&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Balram Adhikari- Land management, cooperatives and poverty alleviation</li>
	<li>Damodar Bhandari- Industry, Commerce and Supply&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

Loktantrik Samajbai Party (LSP)

<ol>
	<li>Sharat Singh Bhandari - Ministry of labour, Employment and Social Security&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP)&nbsp;

<ol>
	<li>Nawal Kishore Sah Sudi - Ministry of Women, Children &amp; Social Welfare&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Pradeep Yadav- Ministry of Drinking Water</li>
</ol>

Oli's biggest challenge will now be in maintaining its relationship with India as well as China. Oli's previous stint saw him in a standoff with New Delhi after his government published a new map of Nepal that included Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh as its territories.&nbsp; 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli took oath as the prime minister of Nepal for the fourth time at a special function at the president's office in the capital city of Kathmandu on Monday (Jul 15).

Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli took oath as the prime minister of Nepal for the fourth time at a special function at the president's office in the capital city of Kathmandu on Monday (Jul 15). Alongside Oli, two deputy prime ministers and 19 ministers took the oath of office. Oli, leader of the largest communist party in the Himalayan nation, was named the PM, following the collapse of the coalition government. He succeeds Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda who lost the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives last Friday (Jul 12), leading to the formation of the new government as per Article 76 (2) of the Constitution. In the 275-member House, 138 is the minimum number required to run a government. Oli managed to submit signatures of 166 lawmakers in his support (Congress' 88 and UML's 78) to stake the claim. Oli is widely seen as being pro-China, and Kathmandu’s ties with Beijing are expected to become closer in his tenure, the news agency PTI reported. Modi congratulates new Nepal PM In a post on X, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Oli. "Look forward to working closely to further strengthen the deep bonds of friendship between our two countries and to further expand our mutually beneficial cooperation for the progress and prosperity of our peoples," Modi said. Thank you, Prime Minister @narendramodi, for your warm congratulations. I am committed to working closely with you to strengthen Nepal-India relations for our mutual benefit. Together, we can elevate our historic ties to new heights. — K P Sharma Oli (@kpsharmaoli) July 15, 2024 × In response, the new Nepal PM said, "Thank you, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for your warm congratulations. I am committed to working closely with you to strengthen Nepal-India relations for our mutual benefit. Together, we can elevate our historic ties to new heights." Also read | Nepal: KP Oli stakes claim to become PM after Prachanda loses trust vote Breakup of the new government: KP Sharma Oli: Prime Minister Of the 21 ministers, 10 are from Congress, eight from UML, two from JSP and one from LSP Congress Ramesh Lekhak- Ministry of Home Affairs Arzu Rana Deuba- Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pradip Paudel - Ministry of Health and Population Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya - Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Badri Prasad Pandey - Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Deepak Khadka- Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Prakashman Singh- Deputy PM & Ministry o Urban Development Ain Bahadur Shahi- Ministry of Forest and Environment Ramnath Adhikari- Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Tejulal Chaudhary-Ministry of Youth and Sports UML Bishnu Poudel- Deputy PM & Finance Ministry Prithvisubba Gurung- Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Manbeer Rai- Ministry of Defense Devendra Dahal- Physical infrastructure Raj Kumar Gupta- Federal Affairs and General Administration Bidya Bhattarai- Education, Science and Technology Balram Adhikari- Land management, cooperatives and poverty alleviation Damodar Bhandari- Industry, Commerce and Supply Loktantrik Samajbai Party (LSP) Sharat Singh Bhandari - Ministry of labour, Employment and Social Security Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) Nawal Kishore Sah Sudi - Ministry of Women, Children & Social Welfare Pradeep Yadav- Ministry of Drinking Water Oli's biggest challenge will now be in maintaining its relationship with India as well as China. Oli's previous stint saw him in a standoff with New Delhi after his government published a new map of Nepal that included Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh as its territories. (With inputs from agencies)

KP Sharma Oli takes oath as Nepal prime minister for fourth time after fall of Prachanda government

Over the last year and a half, China has upped the ante on Taiwan, especially after former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island nation. Now, Chinese propagandists masquerading as marketing professionals are&nbsp;attempting to brainwash Taiwanese nationals to achieve&nbsp;total unification.

Recently, a&nbsp;Taiwanese woman named Yang Hsin-tzu was targetted incessantly by the Chinese IT cell after she&nbsp;purchased a book titled 'If China Attacks'&nbsp; which essentially is anti-CPC (Communist Party of China) in its leanings.&nbsp;

Yang bought the book from&nbsp;Eslite Bookstore in February but received a mysterious call last Saturday (May 13) which piqued her interest. Yang, who is a deputy executive secretary for a non-profit, "Here I Stand Project" took to Facebook to chronicle her experience.&nbsp;

Yang&nbsp;said she missed two "strange" calls with the country code +28. However, when the phone rang the third time, she picked up the call and heard a soft female voice on the receiver's end.&nbsp;

“The voice was female, and from the beginning, she spoke in a very diffident tone,” Yang wrote, adding that the woman claimed to a representative of&nbsp;Eslite Bookstore who was conducting a survey following&nbsp;Yang’s purchase of the book.&nbsp;

When she quizzed the caller on what the survey was regarding, the Chinese propagandist said, “The book you bought contains very sensitive content...This book’s content is inappropriate, so I wish to hear your opinion.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/chinas-territorial-ambitions-claims-over-taiwan-571910">WATCH |&nbsp;China's territorial ambitions, claims over Taiwan</a>

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&nbsp;

Having talked for a few minutes on the phone, Yang realised that the accent of the caller was faux-Taiwanese, meaning she was not a Taiwanese native.&nbsp;

“At that moment, I was both nervous and excited, not wanting to miss the chance to face-off directly with Chinese communists," added Yang who told the caller to revert once she has picked up the book.

This time Yang prepared to record the call but instead of the woman, she got a man on the follow-up call. The said man claimed to be from&nbsp;&nbsp;Eslite Bookstore’s marketing department.

Unlike the woman caller, the man had no pretence and right off the bat, started kicking Taiwan and schooling Yang that even though she was not born in China, she was a native.&nbsp;

“China has strong military prowess, there is no way Taiwan will come out victorious," said the caller, who repeatedly claimed that the US won't help Taiwan and that&nbsp;Kuomintang (KMT) is better.&nbsp;

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He also declared, “the unification of Taiwan is inevitable, voting for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will result in unification by force, and voting for the KMT will result in peaceful unification and one country, two systems!”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-condemns-meeting-between-us-house-speaker-and-taiwan-president-vows-resolute-response-579595">ALSO READ |&nbsp;China condemns meeting between US House speaker and Taiwan president, vows 'resolute' response</a>

<h2>China's&nbsp;psychological warfare</h2>

It is common knowledge that scammers from China have been targeting online shoppers in Taiwan. Their main aim is to not engage in financial fraud but to conduct psychological warfare and sow seeds of confusion about the Taiwanese Army and government.&nbsp;

“This time, they weren’t trying to scam me for my money, they were trying to conduct cognitive warfare with me, trying to find out Taiwan’s public opinion and Taiwanese’s thoughts about the book," added Yang.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Administration for Digital Industries has summoned&nbsp;Eslite Bookstore representatives to explain the loopholes in their cyber security system which allowed non-state actors to get hold of customer data.&nbsp;

China drumming up the intensity of scam calls comes in the backdrop of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen recently visiting the US and meeting the top leaders.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE:&nbsp;

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Over the last year and a half, China has upped the ante on Taiwan, especially after former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island nation. Now, Chinese propagandists masquerading as marketing professionals are attempting to brainwash Taiwanese nationals to achieve total unification.

Over the last year and a half, China has upped the ante on Taiwan, especially after former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island nation. Now, Chinese propagandists masquerading as marketing professionals are attempting to brainwash Taiwanese nationals to achieve total unification. Recently, a Taiwanese woman named Yang Hsin-tzu was targetted incessantly by the Chinese IT cell after she purchased a book titled 'If China Attacks' which essentially is anti-CPC (Communist Party of China) in its leanings. Yang bought the book from Eslite Bookstore in February but received a mysterious call last Saturday (May 13) which piqued her interest. Yang, who is a deputy executive secretary for a non-profit, "Here I Stand Project" took to Facebook to chronicle her experience. Yang said she missed two "strange" calls with the country code +28. However, when the phone rang the third time, she picked up the call and heard a soft female voice on the receiver's end. “The voice was female, and from the beginning, she spoke in a very diffident tone,” Yang wrote, adding that the woman claimed to a representative of Eslite Bookstore who was conducting a survey following Yang’s purchase of the book. When she quizzed the caller on what the survey was regarding, the Chinese propagandist said, “The book you bought contains very sensitive content...This book’s content is inappropriate, so I wish to hear your opinion.” WATCH | China's territorial ambitions, claims over Taiwan × Having talked for a few minutes on the phone, Yang realised that the accent of the caller was faux-Taiwanese, meaning she was not a Taiwanese native. “At that moment, I was both nervous and excited, not wanting to miss the chance to face-off directly with Chinese communists," added Yang who told the caller to revert once she has picked up the book. This time Yang prepared to record the call but instead of the woman, she got a man on the follow-up call. The said man claimed to be from Eslite Bookstore’s marketing department. Unlike the woman caller, the man had no pretence and right off the bat, started kicking Taiwan and schooling Yang that even though she was not born in China, she was a native. “China has strong military prowess, there is no way Taiwan will come out victorious," said the caller, who repeatedly claimed that the US won't help Taiwan and that Kuomintang (KMT) is better. × He also declared, “the unification of Taiwan is inevitable, voting for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will result in unification by force, and voting for the KMT will result in peaceful unification and one country, two systems!” ALSO READ | China condemns meeting between US House speaker and Taiwan president, vows 'resolute' response China's psychological warfare It is common knowledge that scammers from China have been targeting online shoppers in Taiwan. Their main aim is to not engage in financial fraud but to conduct psychological warfare and sow seeds of confusion about the Taiwanese Army and government. “This time, they weren’t trying to scam me for my money, they were trying to conduct cognitive warfare with me, trying to find out Taiwan’s public opinion and Taiwanese’s thoughts about the book," added Yang. Meanwhile, Taiwan's Administration for Digital Industries has summoned Eslite Bookstore representatives to explain the loopholes in their cyber security system which allowed non-state actors to get hold of customer data. China drumming up the intensity of scam calls comes in the backdrop of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen recently visiting the US and meeting the top leaders. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Chinese propagandists are scam-calling those buying anti-Communist party books

The Japan Communist Party is the oldest political party in the country. It’s the largest nonruling Communist party in the world. It’s harshly critical of China. And the Japanese authorities list it, along with the Islamic State group and North Korea, as a threat to national security.

To many in Japan, that comparison seems exaggerated. The party, which long ago abandoned Marx and Lenin and never really had time for Stalin or Mao, is about as radical as a beige cardigan: anti-war, pro-democracy, pro-economic equality.

But that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a primary target of Japan’s dominant political force, the Liberal Democratic Party, before parliamentary elections Sunday that will help set the country’s path out of the pandemic.

Though clocking in at only 3% support in the polls, the Communists have become a handy boogeyman after teaming up with Japan’s leading opposition parties for the first time in an effort to dethrone the LDP. The Communists agreed to withdraw their candidates from several districts to avoid splitting the liberal vote.

The conservative Liberal Democrats, who have governed almost continuously since the end of World War II, face little risk of losing power. But with their popularity sagging amid a weak economy and lingering questions over their handling of the coronavirus, they have tried to change the subject by painting the vote as a choice between democratic rule and Communist infiltration.

“The Communist Party’s strategy is to get one foot in the door,” Taro Kono, the LDP’s public affairs chief, told voters during a campaign stop. “Then they wrench it open and take over the house,” he added.

The Japan Communist Party, founded in 1922, has long provoked government animosity. It vigorously opposed Japan’s military aggression before and during World War II, and the Japanese secret police persecuted and imprisoned Communists through the conflict’s end.

In the 1950s and ’60s, the Liberal Democrats — aided by the CIA — carried out heavy-handed crackdowns on the group, which briefly flirted with political violence and became a rallying point for anti-American student protests.

Despite its name, the JCP has largely abandoned its roots in favor of its own homegrown ideology. It broke with the Soviet Union and China in the 1960s and has recently become one of Beijing’s most vocal Japanese critics, denouncing its neighbor for following the path of “hegemony” and violating human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. When the Chinese Communist Party celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, the JCP was the only major Japanese party not to send congratulations.

Still, Japan’s National Police Agency has continued to treat the group as a menace. In its annual report on threats to the nation, it lumps the JCP in with the Islamic State group, North Korea and Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult that killed 13 and injured thousands during a 1995 nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway.

The Japan Communists, the police note, are rapidly aging, losing their financial resources — mostly generated by subscriptions to their newspaper, Akahata, or Red Flag — and are having difficulty attracting new members.

The agency is not clear about what actual threat the group poses. It does note that the Communists were planning to join other opposition parties to challenge the LDP, and that they had “added ‘gender equality’ and ‘a nuclear-power-free Japan’ ” to their platform. (The JCP runs more female candidates than nearly any other Japanese party.)

Both of those initiatives are opposed to some extent by the Liberal Democrats — who, for example, have rejected legislation to allow women to keep their last names after marriage — even though they are popular with the general public.

But those are not among the top issues for voters in the coming election. Their priorities are clear: keeping the coronavirus in check and putting the pandemic-ravaged economy back on track. Neither of these are necessarily winning issues for the LDP, which, though unlikely to lose, faces a strong risk of emerging from the election seriously weakened.

Japan is reporting just a few hundred COVID-19 cases each day, and vaccination numbers have surpassed those of most other countries, despite a slow start. Nevertheless, there is a sense that the governing party mismanaged the crisis, fumbling the national vaccine rollout and delaying the country’s recovery. Stories of coronavirus patients dying at home despite ample supplies of hospital beds have further hardened public opinion.

Current economic policies, which have failed to lift the country out of stagnation, are also unpopular — so much so that Fumio Kishida, who became prime minister this month after winning an LDP leadership election, ran against them. Kishida promised that he would confront growing inequality through a (very socialist-sounding) program of wealth redistribution.

He has since walked back those promises and looks set to continue his predecessors’ policies largely unchanged.

The threat that the Japan Communist Party poses to the LDP may come not from its size — the Communists have never gained more than 13% of the vote in a lower house election — but from its members’ dedication. The JCP, which has a highly organized base, could play a big role in drawing votes to the opposition, said Tomoaki Iwai, a professor of political science at Nihon University.

“It’s an organization that has the power to gather ballots” he said.

In focusing attention on the Japan Communists, the LDP and its governing partner, Komeito, are betting that voters’ distaste for big “C” communism and fear of a rising China will drive them away from the opposition coalition, said Taku Sugawara, an independent political scientist.

“Until recently, as far as the LDP was concerned, the Communists were just a group that got in the way of the other opposition parties,” he said. “But now that they’re clearly a threat, they’ve become a prominent target of criticism.”

Although there is widespread consensus in Japan that Beijing’s growing power poses a threat to regional stability, the LDP and JCP are split over how to deal with it.

The Liberal Democrats have called for doubling military spending, increasing defense cooperation with the United States, and changing Japan’s pacifist constitution to give it, among other things, the ability to carry out first strikes against adversaries that threaten national security.

The Japan Communists, however, prefer a diplomatic approach and are strongly opposed to the substantial U.S. military presence in Japan, a position that makes it an outlier among Japanese political parties.

During a recent rally in front of the bustling Shinjuku station in central Tokyo, candidates for Komeito warned a small group of potential voters that the differing views of the LDP and its political partners on national defense would make it impossible for them to govern competently.

(The hawkish LDP and its dovish coalition partner have themselves long been at odds over whether to increase military spending or alter Japan’s constitution to remove its prohibition against waging war. And Komeito is notorious for its reluctance to criticize Beijing.)

The Japan Communists have said that their differences with other opposition parties would have no bearing on a new government. The Communists say they won’t seek any role if the opposition topples the LDP.

But it’s hard to say what would actually happen if the opposition somehow won power, said Iwai, the political science professor.

None of the coalition members “actually think they’re going to win,” he said. So when it comes to discussions of what’s next, “No one’s thought that far.”

The Japan Communist Party is the oldest political party in the country. It’s the largest nonruling Communist party in the world. It’s harshly critical of China. And the Japanese authorities list it, along with the Islamic State group and North Korea, as a threat to national security.

The Japan Communist Party is the oldest political party in the country. It’s the largest nonruling Communist party in the world. It’s harshly critical of China. And the Japanese authorities list it, along with the Islamic State group and North Korea, as a threat to national security. To many in Japan, that comparison seems exaggerated. The party, which long ago abandoned Marx and Lenin and never really had time for Stalin or Mao, is about as radical as a beige cardigan: anti-war, pro-democracy, pro-economic equality. But that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a primary target of Japan’s dominant political force, the Liberal Democratic Party, before parliamentary elections Sunday that will help set the country’s path out of the pandemic. Though clocking in at only 3% support in the polls, the Communists have become a handy boogeyman after teaming up with Japan’s leading opposition parties for the first time in an effort to dethrone the LDP. The Communists agreed to withdraw their candidates from several districts to avoid splitting the liberal vote. The conservative Liberal Democrats, who have governed almost continuously since the end of World War II, face little risk of losing power. But with their popularity sagging amid a weak economy and lingering questions over their handling of the coronavirus, they have tried to change the subject by painting the vote as a choice between democratic rule and Communist infiltration. “The Communist Party’s strategy is to get one foot in the door,” Taro Kono, the LDP’s public affairs chief, told voters during a campaign stop. “Then they wrench it open and take over the house,” he added. The Japan Communist Party, founded in 1922, has long provoked government animosity. It vigorously opposed Japan’s military aggression before and during World War II, and the Japanese secret police persecuted and imprisoned Communists through the conflict’s end. In the 1950s and ’60s, the Liberal Democrats — aided by the CIA — carried out heavy-handed crackdowns on the group, which briefly flirted with political violence and became a rallying point for anti-American student protests. Despite its name, the JCP has largely abandoned its roots in favor of its own homegrown ideology. It broke with the Soviet Union and China in the 1960s and has recently become one of Beijing’s most vocal Japanese critics, denouncing its neighbor for following the path of “hegemony” and violating human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. When the Chinese Communist Party celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, the JCP was the only major Japanese party not to send congratulations. Still, Japan’s National Police Agency has continued to treat the group as a menace. In its annual report on threats to the nation, it lumps the JCP in with the Islamic State group, North Korea and Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult that killed 13 and injured thousands during a 1995 nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway. The Japan Communists, the police note, are rapidly aging, losing their financial resources — mostly generated by subscriptions to their newspaper, Akahata, or Red Flag — and are having difficulty attracting new members. The agency is not clear about what actual threat the group poses. It does note that the Communists were planning to join other opposition parties to challenge the LDP, and that they had “added ‘gender equality’ and ‘a nuclear-power-free Japan’ ” to their platform. (The JCP runs more female candidates than nearly any other Japanese party.) Both of those initiatives are opposed to some extent by the Liberal Democrats — who, for example, have rejected legislation to allow women to keep their last names after marriage — even though they are popular with the general public. But those are not among the top issues for voters in the coming election. Their priorities are clear: keeping the coronavirus in check and putting the pandemic-ravaged economy back on track. Neither of these are necessarily winning issues for the LDP, which, though unlikely to lose, faces a strong risk of emerging from the election seriously weakened. Japan is reporting just a few hundred COVID-19 cases each day, and vaccination numbers have surpassed those of most other countries, despite a slow start. Nevertheless, there is a sense that the governing party mismanaged the crisis, fumbling the national vaccine rollout and delaying the country’s recovery. Stories of coronavirus patients dying at home despite ample supplies of hospital beds have further hardened public opinion. Current economic policies, which have failed to lift the country out of stagnation, are also unpopular — so much so that Fumio Kishida, who became prime minister this month after winning an LDP leadership election, ran against them. Kishida promised that he would confront growing inequality through a (very socialist-sounding) program of wealth redistribution. He has since walked back those promises and looks set to continue his predecessors’ policies largely unchanged. The threat that the Japan Communist Party poses to the LDP may come not from its size — the Communists have never gained more than 13% of the vote in a lower house election — but from its members’ dedication. The JCP, which has a highly organized base, could play a big role in drawing votes to the opposition, said Tomoaki Iwai, a professor of political science at Nihon University. “It’s an organization that has the power to gather ballots” he said. In focusing attention on the Japan Communists, the LDP and its governing partner, Komeito, are betting that voters’ distaste for big “C” communism and fear of a rising China will drive them away from the opposition coalition, said Taku Sugawara, an independent political scientist. “Until recently, as far as the LDP was concerned, the Communists were just a group that got in the way of the other opposition parties,” he said. “But now that they’re clearly a threat, they’ve become a prominent target of criticism.” Although there is widespread consensus in Japan that Beijing’s growing power poses a threat to regional stability, the LDP and JCP are split over how to deal with it. The Liberal Democrats have called for doubling military spending, increasing defense cooperation with the United States, and changing Japan’s pacifist constitution to give it, among other things, the ability to carry out first strikes against adversaries that threaten national security. The Japan Communists, however, prefer a diplomatic approach and are strongly opposed to the substantial U.S. military presence in Japan, a position that makes it an outlier among Japanese political parties. During a recent rally in front of the bustling Shinjuku station in central Tokyo, candidates for Komeito warned a small group of potential voters that the differing views of the LDP and its political partners on national defense would make it impossible for them to govern competently. (The hawkish LDP and its dovish coalition partner have themselves long been at odds over whether to increase military spending or alter Japan’s constitution to remove its prohibition against waging war. And Komeito is notorious for its reluctance to criticize Beijing.) The Japan Communists have said that their differences with other opposition parties would have no bearing on a new government. The Communists say they won’t seek any role if the opposition topples the LDP. But it’s hard to say what would actually happen if the opposition somehow won power, said Iwai, the political science professor. None of the coalition members “actually think they’re going to win,” he said. So when it comes to discussions of what’s next, “No one’s thought that far.”

Japan’s communists are hardly radical, but make a handy election target

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