Stocks in Japan fell sharply on Monday after the country’s governing party chose a leader some view as hawkish on interest rates, underlining how central bank decisions continue to set the course of the world’s fourth-largest economy after decades of easy money policy.

Ishiba’s election marks a significant further shift in official Japanese politics toward remilitarization and preparations for war against China.

In electing a new prime minister, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party could have opted for generational change in the form of 43-year-old Shinjiro Koizumi. It could have chosen a return to the nationalistic conservatism of former leader Shinzo Abe — and with it a first female prime minister — in the shape of Sanae Takaichi.

Shigeru Ishiba was elected as the new prime minister of Japan on Friday. The country’s governing political party, the Liberal Democratic Party, voted for the former minister of defense to lead the country.