TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s coalition swept to a historic election win on Sunday, paving the way for promised tax cuts that have spooked financial markets and military spending aimed at countering China.

The conservative Ms. Takaichi, Japan’s first female leader who says she is inspired by Britain’s “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher, delivered 316 seats of the 465 in parliament’s lower house for her Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), its best ever result.

With coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, Ms. Takaichi controls 352 seats and a supermajority of two-thirds of seats, easing her legislative agenda as she can override the upper chamber, where she does not have a majority.

WINTER ELECTION BRINGS BLIZZARD OF VOTES
“This election involved major policy shifts — particularly a major shift in economic and fiscal policy, as well as strengthening security policy,” Ms. Takaichi said in a television interview as the results rolled in.

“These are policies that have drawn a great deal of opposition… If we have received the public’s support, then we truly must tackle these issues with all our strength.”

US President Donald J. Trump congratulated Ms. Takaichi on the result, wishing her “great success in passing your Conservative, Peace Through Strength agenda” in a social media post.

“Sanae’s bold and wise decision to call for an election paid off big time,” said Mr. Trump, who will host Ms. Takaichi at the White House next month.

Ms. Takaichi, 64, called the rare winter snap election to capitalize on her buoyant personal approval ratings since she was elevated to lead the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party late last year.

Voters have been drawn to her straight-talking, hardworking image, but her nationalistic leanings and emphasis on security have strained ties with Japan’s powerful neighbor China, while her promises of tax cuts have rattled financial markets.

Residents trudged through snow to cast their ballots with record snowfall in some parts snarling traffic and requiring some polling stations to close early. It was only the third post-war election held in February, with elections typically called during milder months.

Outside a polling station in the town of Uonuma in the mountainous Niigata prefecture, teacher Kazushige Cho, 54, braved below-freezing temperatures and deep snow to cast his vote for Ms. Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party.

“It feels like she’s creating a sense of direction — like the whole country is pulling together and moving forward,” Mr. Cho said.

But Ms. Takaichi’s election promise to suspend an 8% sales tax on food to help households cope with rising prices has rattled investors concerned about how the nation with the heaviest debt burden among advanced economies will fund the plan.

Ms. Takaichi said on Sunday she would speed up consideration of the sales tax cut while focusing on fiscal sustainability.

“Her plans for the cut in the consumption tax leave open big question marks about funding and how she’s going to go about making the arithmetic add up,” said Chris Scicluna, head of research at Daiwa Capital Markets Europe in London.

PROPELLED BY YOUTH-LED CRAZE
The head of Japan’s top business lobby Keidanren, Yoshinobu Tsutsui, welcomed Ms. Takaichi’s win as restoring political stability. “Japan’s economy is now at a critical juncture for achieving sustainable and strong growth,” he said.

The LDP, which has ruled for almost all of Japan’s post-war history, had lost control of both houses in elections over the past 15 months under Ms. Takaichi’s predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba.

Ms. Takaichi has managed to turn around the party’s fortunes by striking a chord with younger voters.

She has even sparked a “sanakatsu” craze, roughly translated as “Sanae-mania.” Her handbag and the pink pen she scribbles notes with in parliament have been in high demand.

China is not a fan, however.

Weeks after taking office, Ms. Takaichi touched off the biggest dispute with Beijing in over a decade by publicly outlining how Tokyo might respond to a Chinese attack on Taiwan, the democratic island claimed by China.

China responded with several countermeasures, including urging its citizens not to travel to Japan.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate Ms. Takaichi, saying he hoped her victory would “bring a more prosperous and secure future for Japan and its partners in the region.”

Ms. Takaichi’s strong mandate could accelerate her plans to bolster Japan’s defenses, further angering Beijing, which has cast her as attempting to revive its militaristic past.

Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told TV stations on Sunday evening that he wanted to push ahead with policies to strengthen Japan’s defense while pursuing dialogue with China.

“Beijing will not welcome Takaichi’s victory,” said David Boling, principal at the Asia Group, a firm that advises companies on geopolitical risk.

“China now faces the reality that she is firmly in place — and that its efforts to isolate her completely failed.” — Reuters

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s most vocal China critic, media tycoon Jimmy Lai, was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in jail, ending the city’s biggest national security case which drew international concern about the city’s freedoms and autonomy.

Mr. Lai’s sentence on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one for publishing seditious materials ends a legal saga that has spanned nearly five years.

Mr. Lai, founder of the feisty but shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, was first arrested in August 2020 and was convicted last year.

His 20-year sentence was within the harshest penalty “band” for offenses of a “grave nature” and is the most severe punishment meted out yet, the three national security judges said.

Mr. Lai’s sentence was enhanced by the fact that he was the “mastermind” and driving force behind “persistent” foreign collusion conspiracies, the judges said.

They cited prosecution evidence that the conspiracies had sought sanctions, blockades and other hostile acts from the US and other countries while involving a web of individuals including Apple Daily staff, activists and foreigners.

Besides Mr. Lai, six former senior Apple Daily staffers, an activist and a paralegal were sentenced to jail terms ranging between six and 10 years.

“In the present case, Lai was no doubt the mastermind of all three conspiracies charged and therefore he warrants a heavier sentence,” the judges said.

“As regards the others, it is difficult to distinguish their relative culpability.”

The 78-year-old, a British citizen, has denied all the charges against him, saying in court he is a “political prisoner” facing persecution from Beijing.

Mr. Lai’s plight has been criticized by global leaders including US President Donald J. Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, spotlighting a years-long national security crackdown in the China-ruled Asian financial hub, following mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Those concerns reflected in part Mr. Lai’s longstanding international profile as a pro-democracy critic of China’s Communist Party leadership and his extensive political connections, particularly among US Republicans — ties that prosecutors cited during the case.

At the height of the protests in July 2019, Mr. Lai met then-US Vice-President Mike Pence and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington.

Beijing in 2020 imposed the national security law upon Hong Kong, saying it was necessary to stabilize the city after months of sometimes violent unrest.

LIFE IN PRISON?
The case has drawn calls for Mr. Lai, whose friends and supporters say is in frail health with diabetes and high blood pressure, to be freed.

Mr. Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, said from outside Hong Kong that the sentence “is devastating for our family and life-threatening for my father,” marking the “total destruction” of the Hong Kong legal system.

“After more than five years of relentlessly persecuting my father, it is time for China to do the right thing and release him before it is too late.”

Mr. Lai, who is also one of Hong Kong’s most prominent Roman Catholics, arrived at the court on Monday in a white jacket, with hands held together in a praying gesture as he smiled and waved at supporters.

“The harsh 20-year sentence against 78-year-old Jimmy Lai is effectively a death sentence,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. “A sentence of this magnitude is both cruel and profoundly unjust.”

Hong Kong police swiftly played down concerns about Mr. Lai’s health. Chief Superintendent Steve Li of the force’s national security department said Mr. Lai’s health concerns had been “exaggerated” and added that the tycoon deserved his sentence.

The judges said they were not inclined to give Mr. Lai any deduction for his medical condition, age and solitary confinement but acknowledged he would face a “more burdensome” time than other inmates. They cut a month off the sedition sentence and one year each for the collusion charges.

Beijing and Hong Kong officials have said that Mr. Lai has received a fair trial and all are treated equally under a national security law that they say has been vital to restoring order to the city.

Dozens of Mr. Lai’s supporters queued for several days to secure a spot in the courtroom, with scores of police officers, sniffer dogs and police vehicles — including an armored truck and a bomb disposal van — deployed around the area.

“I feel that Mr. Lai is the conscience of Hong Kong,” said a man named Sum, 64, who was in the queue.

Mr. Starmer raised the case of Mr. Lai, who holds British citizenship, during a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month in Beijing, according to people briefed on the discussions, and called for his release.

Mr. Trump too, raised Mr. Lai’s case with Mr. Xi during a meeting in October. Several Western diplomats told Reuters that negotiations to free Mr. Lai would likely begin in earnest now that he has been sentenced.

His lawyer, Robert Pang, said he could not comment when asked whether Mr. Lai would appeal, saying he has 28 days to do so. — Reuters

BANGKOK — Thailand faced a realignment of conservative politics on Monday after Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai Party won a stronger-than-expected general election victory, with coalition talks expected to start in the coming days.

With 94% of votes counted, Bhumjaithai was way ahead of its rivals after Sunday’s vote, securing 193 of the 500 seats in Thailand’s parliament, according to Reuters’ calculations based on election commission data.

The election result sent Thai stocks up by around 3%, hitting their highest level in more than a year as the risks of further political instability receded.

The People’s Party, which led some polls in the run-up to the vote, trailed on 118, with the Pheu Thai Party third with 74.

A handful of other parties won a combined 115 spots in the 500-seat parliament, according to Reuters calculations, but the final number of party-list seats could change under Thailand’s proportional electoral system.

Mr. Anutin called the election in December after less than 100 days in office and has sought to capitalize on a wave of nationalism generated by Thailand’s three-week conflict with Cambodia in December. He described the election result as “a victory for all Thais.”

Bhumjaithai had received 30.2% of the constituency votes, with analysts saying it consolidated the conservative vote after the surge in nationalist fervor, and took a string of seats from the once dominant Pheu Thai, controlled by the billionaire Shinawatra family.

ANUTIN PROMISES CAMBODIA BORDER WALL
Asked about forming a coalition, Mr. Anutin said in a Monday news broadcast that he wanted to form a government with a strong majority, but he was still waiting to see the final election results.

“We need a strong government,” he said.

Underscoring the role that nationalism played in the vote, Mr. Anutin also vowed to build a wall along Thailand’s border with Cambodia and strengthen the military.

“I will still have to build the wall. I must keep strengthening the military’s capabilities. I believe Thai soldiers can win against anyone. And I still believe we need to keep the border checkpoints closed, not open them,” he said.

The prime minister previously indicated that if he was re-elected, the incumbent ministers of finance, foreign affairs, and commerce would retain their roles in a new cabinet.

VOTERS BACK CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
The left-leaning People’s Party has already ruled out the possibility of joining a coalition led by Mr. Anutin, with its leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut saying late on Sunday that it would not seek to form a rival coalition.

Polls at the end of January had the People’s Party significantly ahead of Bhumjaithai, but analysts said the surge in nationalism provoked by the Cambodia conflict favored the conservatives.

Voters also backed up a proposal to change the constitution, with nearly two-thirds in favor of replacing a charter put in place after a 2014 military coup, which critics say gave too much power to an undemocratic senate.

It is expected to take at least two years to implement the new constitution, with two more referendums required to endorse the drafting process and the final text. — Reuters