Editing Takeo Fukuda (section)

== Premiership ==
After the LDP's poor showing in the 1976 election, Miki stepped down as prime minister and Fukuda was elected to replace him. Fukuda remained in office until 1978,<ref name="pace" /> but was forced to rely on the support of minor parties to maintain a parliamentary majority. Although he was regarded as a conservative and a [[hawk]] on foreign policy, Fukuda drew international criticism when he caved in to the demands of a group of terrorists who hijacked [[Japan Airlines Flight 472 (1977)|Japan Airlines Flight 472]], saying "''Jinmei wa chikyū yori omoi'' (The value of a human life outweighs the Earth)."
[[File:Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister of Japan, Takeo Fukuda - NARA - 174134.tif|thumb|left|200px|with [[Jimmy Carter]] (21 March 1977)]]
In matters of [[Sino-Japanese relations]], Fukuda began as one of the LDP's conservative [[pro-Taiwan]] voices. However, by the time he had become prime minister, he was forced to accommodate increasing calls within both the LDP as well as [[Japan Business Federation|Japanese big business]] to further pursue peace treaty negotiations with the People's Republic of China in order to bring about increased access to trade in the long run. Fukuda stalled on this for a number of reasons. For one, there was still continued resistance among some in the LDP who were pro-Taiwan. Moreover, [[Japan–Soviet Union relations|relations with the Soviet Union]] were only recently recovering from disputes over fisheries, and as China and the Soviet Union [[Sino-Soviet split|had strained relations]], Fukuda was careful not to favour one too much over the other. The primary dispute, however, was China's insistence on the treaty to contain an "anti-hegemony clause" which Japan viewed as being directed towards the [[Soviet Union]], and Fukuda did not wish Japan to become involved in the Sino-Soviet schism. After treaty discussions spent much time in limbo, the Chinese side eventually expressed flexibility on the anti-hegemony issue, and Fukuda gave the greenlight to pursue them. Before long, however, pro-Taiwan voices in the LDP placed intense pressure on the Fukuda, and further indecision led to Fukuda's approval ratings to dip down to 20%. Eventually, after further discussion, Fukuda finally consented to a modified version of the treaty which later became the [[Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kim|first=Hong N.|date=1979-03-01|title=The Fukuda Government and the Politics of the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/as/article/19/3/297/3463/The-Fukuda-Government-and-the-Politics-of-the|journal=Asian Survey|language=en|volume=19|issue=3|pages=297–313|doi=10.2307/2643695|jstor=2643695|issn=0004-4687}}</ref>
[[File:G7 leaders 1978.jpg|thumb|left|200px|with [[Giulio Andreotti]], [[Jimmy Carter]], [[Helmut Schmidt]] and [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]] (at the [[4th G7 summit]] on 16 July 1978)]]
On 18 August 1977, Fukuda delivered an address at the [[ASEAN]] summit in [[Manila]], which had been popularly dubbed as the "Fukuda Doctrine." In this speech, Fukuda was mainly concerned with three goals: overcoming the psychological barriers between [[Southeast Asia]] and Japan which came about [[Japanese war crimes|due to World War II]] by reaffirming Japan's [[Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution|commitment to pacifism]], increasing mutual "heart-to-heart" confidence between Japan and ASEAN countries, and the willingness of Japan to be an "equal partner" with ASEAN countries (rather than [[Japanese economic miracle|the economic giant]] it was feared as). In order to bolster these promises, Fukuda clarified Japanese willingness to provide for loans and development assistance, but under the condition that ASEAN does not require Japan to commit to joining an exclusivist [[Trade bloc|trading block]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=HADDAD|first=WILLIAM W.|date=1980|title=Japan, the Fukuda Doctrine, and ASEAN|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25797599|journal=Contemporary Southeast Asia|volume=2|issue=1|pages=10–29|jstor=25797599|issn=0129-797X}}</ref>

In an effort to end the LDP's faction system, Fukuda introduced [[Partisan primary|primary election]]s within the party. In the first primary towards the end of 1978, he was beaten by [[Masayoshi Ōhira]] for the presidency of the LDP, and forced to resign as prime minister. Fukuda was later instrumental in the formation of the [[Inter Action Council]]. He retired from politics in 1990.<ref name=sayle/>