Japan PM appoints first Taiwanese-Japanese cabinet member. And she's a woman!

[Bonobo]

Racist? Sexist?

Japan just appointed a woman of Taiwanese heritage as a member of the new government's cabinet.


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Japan's fiscal firebrand

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20100502x1.html

Upper House Diet member Renho has made her name with her abrasive budget interrogations of bureaucrats. However, her ideas for change throughout the nation go far beyond mere balance sheets

By TOMOKO OTAKE
Staff writer
Renho, a first-term Upper House member from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, shot to stardom in Japan last November when, as a member of a government committee tasked with screening ministries' budget requests, she had several fierce, face-to-face battles with bureaucrats.

While the 42-year-old politician is certainly not the first or only one to point out wasteful spending of taxpayers' money, she has been among the most intense, relentless — and publicly combative — in doing so.

In particular, her comment on the nation's next-generation supercomputers — "Why should Japan be the world's No. 1 (in the speed of supercomputer processors)? What's wrong with being the world's No. 2?" — drew huge public attention and was repeatedly aired on national TV.

The budget-screening process, made public for the first time under the new DPJ administration, has been one of the very few political victories won by the party since it swept to power in August 2009 promising changes — but whose ratings have plummeted to critical levels of around 20 percent in recent months.



http://english.rti.org.tw/Content/GetSingleNews.aspx?ContentID=103256

"Ma congratulates new Japanese prime minister
President Ma Ying-jeou has congratulated new Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan.

The foreign ministry said Friday that Taiwan would continue to strengthen interaction and cooperation with Japan.

The ministry said Kan is friendly towards Taiwan and has advocated Taiwan's participation in the United Nations.

Kan was confirmed in a parliamentary vote Friday as the successor to Yukio Hatoyama. Kan is expected to form a new Cabinet next Tuesday.

Japan's NHK reported on Saturday that Ren Ho, a member of the upper house of the Diet of Japan, would be appointed minister in charge of consumer affairs, declining birthrate, food safety and gender equality. If Ren Ho's appointment is confirmed, she will become the first Japanese minister with a Taiwanese heritage."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renh%C5%8D

Biography

Born Hsieh Lien-fang (謝 蓮舫) in Tokyo to a Taiwanese father and Japanese mother, she studied at Aoyama Gakuin in Tokyo from kindergarten through university. She enrolled in the law faculty of Aoyama Gakuin University and graduated in 1990. Originally a dual citizen, in 1985 while in high school, she chose her Japanese citizenship and at the same time adopter her Japanese mother's surname, becoming Renhō Saitō. To avoid name confusion in her career, she began to go simply by Renhō. Also, her official website sometimes states that she is a naturalized citizen<1>, however she was a dual citizen, so it would be more accurate to state that she chose one of her citizenships as law mandates.

Politics

In July of 2004, Renhō was elected to the House of Councillors representing Tokyo as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan. Renhō has criticized Japan's diplomacy with China and its refusal to recognize Taiwan, stating that "Japan is too polite when dealing with China, taking a low profile" and "Taiwan is my father's country. Why isn't Taiwan a country?"<2>
Since taking office, Renhō has traveled to Taiwan several times on official and unofficial business, garnering extensive public and media attention. She is reportedly close to senior members of the Democratic Progressive Party.<2>
After the DPJ assumed the reins of government in September 2009, she received much public attention for her stern stance during special fiscal screening committees established under Yukio Hatoyama.<3>
In June 2010, new Prime Minister Naoto Kan appointed her as Minister for Administrative Reforms.