New Japanese foreign minister has premier ambitions

Japan's new Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi hopes to follow in the footsteps of his ally, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, to one day land the top job.

Mr Hayashi, 60, was a key strategist in Mr Kishida's successful bid for the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) top post this year, although he failed in a same effort last year.

He was named foreign minister yesterday and was the only change in the Cabinet appointed last month. The post opened up after Mr Toshimitsu Motegi became LDP secretary-general.

Mr Hayashi benefited from circumstance, but his meteoric rise has raised eyebrows within the LDP, while setting tongues wagging that it was in effect a quid pro quo and Mr Kishida's first move in grooming his successor.

There was also apprehension over how Mr Hayashi's apparent pro-China credentials, as chairman of a cross-party bilateral Friendship League, seemed to be out of lockstep with growing unease over Beijing's assertiveness.

Mr Hayashi is the son of former finance minister Yoshiro Hayashi.

He is a law graduate from the University of Tokyo, and holds a master's degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

But the veteran politician, who has held portfolios such as defence, economic and fiscal policy and agriculture, had one major weakness until last month's Lower House election: He was a five-term lawmaker of the less powerful Upper House.

He had once sought the LDP presidency, in 2012, but was last among five candidates.

"It's not written in the Constitution that Upper House members cannot become prime ministers. But that's the sentiment," he told a news conference in September.

He resigned from the Upper House in August to run for the Lower House in the third district of Yamaguchi Prefecture, in a move that was also controversial.

He won the party's endorsement over veteran LDP lawmaker Takeo Kawamura, 78, who was asked to retire from his Yamaguchi third district seat. Mr Kawamura's son Kenichi was not only shut out from contesting the seat, but from the proportional representation list for the block covering Yamaguchi.

Mr Hayashi clinched a convincing 76.9 per cent of the vote.

As foreign minister, his priorities will be to fortify Japan's security alliance with the United States while managing ties with China.

While Mr Hayashi may be seen as pro-China, he gave a hint of how he views foreign policy during the September news conference.

"Foreign policy, at the end of the day, is something that cannot be changed dramatically overnight. Stability, continuity and realism are key words for diplomacy," he said.