Sep 25 (NHK) - Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election appears to be turning into a closely contested race. Four candidates are campaigning hard to win supporters. They participated in an online policy debate.
The LDP isn't holding any in-person election events across the country to prevent the spread of COVID infections.
Instead, candidates are answering questions from the public in an online forum. The debate began on Thursday and will continue for four days through Sunday.
One hundred people were selected by lottery to take part in a question-and-answer session.
Participants asked questions about foreign policy and security issues, the environment and energy policies.
The four candidates were asked which countries or regions will become important for Japan in the future.
They talked about maintaining the strong alliance between Japan and the United States, and the importance of dialogue with China.
