106: Japan's New PM and Existential Threat of Taiwan Conflict Guest: Lance Gatling Lance Gatling discussed Japan's new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, who has adopted a notably hawkish position towards China, stating that a blockade or threat against Taiwan co
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 20 November 2025
⏱️ 9 minutes
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Summary
Guest: Lance Gatling
Lance Gatling discussed Japan's new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, who has adopted a notably hawkish position towards China, stating that a blockade or threat against Taiwan could be interpreted as an existential threat to Japan, allowing the possibility of engaging in collective defense with allies like the U.S. or Philippines, and amid rising tensions and China's attempts to inflict economic damage, Takaichi is moving to accelerate the doubling of Japan's defense procurement budget, while the U.S. withdrawal of the mobile Typhoon missile system was criticized as strategically counterproductive during this critical moment.
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBS Eye on the World. |
| 0:08.5 | Here's John Batchelor. |
| 0:12.8 | This is CBSI on the world. |
| 0:15.1 | I'm John Bachelor. |
| 0:16.1 | Japan. |
| 0:17.2 | A new Prime Minister, Taki Tsi, and I, |
| 0:20.0 | a young woman regarded as well prepared for the face-off with People's Republic of China and the aggression against all of Asia, but especially East Asia. |
| 0:31.6 | We come to a headline at NBC News. |
| 0:33.8 | I'm joined by Gordon Chang at Gordon G. Chang, my colleague and co-host, and we're joined by |
| 0:39.0 | Lance Gatling in Tokyo. He's a principal at Nexiel Research. The headline, China seeks to |
| 0:45.8 | inflict economic blow on Japan amid escalating spat over Taiwan. This is NBC News. Beijing suggested |
| 0:53.4 | it might impose a ban on seafood imports from Japan after warning its citizens to avoid travel there and postponing the release of at least two Japanese movies. Odd business. Lance, I come to you right away. This looks like fresh headlines. You've got a new prime minister. |
| 1:11.2 | Are they connected? Good evening to you. |
| 1:14.6 | Good evening, gentlemen. Yes, of course they're connected. It's off to the races. The new |
| 1:20.4 | administration of Takaichi Sanai. And you could call her young. She's in her 60s, but in Japanese political term, |
| 1:29.7 | she's a mere child compared to most of the octogenarians that are here. |
| 1:34.2 | She was asked a very pointed question by a member of the CDP, |
| 1:39.8 | the primary opposition party, Mr. Okada. |
| 1:45.5 | Mr. Okada was a member of the three DPJ, Democratic Party of Japan, Interregnum cabinets back when the LDPs last lost its majority in both houses and they were able to establish a government. |
| 2:06.2 | Coming out of that, the United States under first Barack Obama mentioned its pivot to Asia. |
| 2:15.3 | And is a response of that over a couple of years. |
| 2:21.5 | That was around 2013, around 2015, or in 2015, rather. |
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