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Abe seeks to repair relations with China
2006-09-26
Japan's new nationalist prime minister Shinzo Abe pledged to repair tattered relations with China, bolster his country's long-standing alliance with the United States and overhaul the pacifist constitution after cruising to an easy victory Tuesday in a parliamentary vote. Abe's roadmap takes Japan down a path toward a more robust military and more assertive foreign policy, delineating a fresh direction for a leader who, at 52, is Japan's youngest premier and its first born after World War II. While Abe envisions a confident Japan that can step from the shadow of decades of postwar guilt, he conceded the country's foreign and security policy will still rest firmly on Tokyo's half-century alliance with the United States. It is a friendship that Japan increasingly hopes will help counter growing threats from a nuclear-armed North Korea and a burgeoning China. "It is necessary to buttress mutual trust and strengthen bilateral relations," Abe said in his first news conference after being elected by parliament to succeed Junichiro Koizumi as prime minister. "The Japan-United States alliance forms the foundation of our foreign and security policy." Key to Abe's push will be revising the constitution, which renounces war as a means of solving international disputes and has formed the cornerstone of Japan's post World War II identity. To make Japan a more "normal country," conservatives want the constitution overhauled to give Japan's military, euphemistically known as the Self-Defense Forces, greater leeway in contributing to international peacekeeping operations. Changes would also clarify under what situations Japanese forces might come to the aid of an ally under attack. "As prime minister, I must protect the peace, and the lives of our citizens," Abe said. Such moves would advance a swing to the right begun by Koizumi, who fought off critics to send Japanese noncombat troops to Afghanistan and Iraq in support of the U.S.-led coalition. The troops in Iraq have since come home, but as Abe spoke Tuesday night, local media reported that Japan was planning to extend for another year its naval mission to fuel coalition warships in the Indian Ocean. Off to a fast start in setting up his Cabinet, Abe stocked the new government with conservatives on every issue from the economy and foreign affairs to defense and women's rights. Among the new inner circle are Foreign Minister Taro Aso, known for his hard-line stance toward China, and Fumio Kyuma, who took a second stint as defense chief and is expected to oversee the agency's upgrade to a full-blown ministry. Looking to deflect criticism that his economic policies lack backbone, Abe also rolled out a team of budget hawks that combines academic know-how with experience to keep the recovery of the world's second-largest economy clipping along. Even his minister in charge of gender issues, Sanae Takaichi, is known for her right-leaning outlook. She's against a dual-surname proposal that would let married women keep their maiden names. "From today, I will start building a new Japan," Abe said. "The Cabinet I appointed today is one that will create a beautiful Japan." The new Cabinet met for the first time late Tuesday, and Abe outlined a wide-ranging agenda covering fiscal reform, measures to combat Japan's falling birth rate and revamping the country's education system. Abe also said he would cut his own pay by 30 percent and those of his Cabinet by 10 percent to demonstrate his commitment to trimming the budget. Reining in spending is a must because Japan's gigantic public debt is the largest in the industrialized world and a potential time bomb for future generations. On foreign relations, Abe said he would try to soothe relations with Asian neighbors, particularly China, and to pursue a permanent seat for Tokyo on the U.N. Security Council. "I would like to follow a more assertive foreign policy," Abe said. "This does not mean to blindly assert Japan's national interest but to ask what role Japan can play in the region and the world, and what the international community should strive for." Returning for a second stint as foreign minister, Aso set a summit with China at the top of the agenda. Japan and China are at odds over interpretations of wartime history, exploitation of maritime resources, and island territories. Chinese President Hu Jintao has refused to meet with Koizumi since last year over his visits to the Yasukuni war shrine, which honors war criminals among Japan's war dead and is considered by critics to be a glorification of Tokyo's past militarism. On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang urged Abe to pursue better ties, and made a veiled reference to Yasukuni as a reason for the troubles between the two. "The Chinese government attaches great importance to ties with Japan," Qin said. "At present, there are obstacles to bilateral ties. The reasons are quite clear and the Japanese government is aware of them." ___ Associated Press writer Hiroko Tabuchi contributed to this report. Muzi.com News
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