The new leader of the once-ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan should first tidy up the relations inside the party and regain confidence instead of fighting against Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan, Chinese experts said yesterday following Sadakazu Tanigaki's victory.

Nearly one month after the Liberal Democrats suffered a humiliating defeat in August elections, the former finance minister, 64, beat two other candidates to become the new leader.

Tanigaki vowed to bring the once-dominant Liberal Democrats back to power and lead the party to victory in an upper house election scheduled for next summer.