by Bill Emmot
The assassination of former Prime Minister of Japan Abe Shinzo at an election campaign event in Nara, Japan is shocking and shocking.
This is shocking because Japan has known almost no political violence for at least half a century, and because gun ownership is strictly regulated in the country. This is surprising because Abe had no formal government role after stepping down as prime minister in 2020; Yet the assassination was clearly a political act.
Abe’s death is unlikely to have any effect on the July 10 elections for Japan’s House of Councilors (the upper and therefore junior legislative chamber), in which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party was already expected to win comfortably. The increase in turnout from the tragic loss of the former LDP leader and prime minister may have garnered some sympathy votes, but it has primarily stunned and bewildered a country that is completely impervious to such violence .
Abe’s legacy from his record-setting tenure as prime minister – which was divided between a failed year in 2006–07, followed by a triumphant return for seven years from 2012 to 2020 – has a bearing on Japanese foreign and security policy. has had an impact. More notable for effects. on domestic matters. To be sure, Abe was a good seller for his economic-policy agenda, which he successfully promoted under the “Abenomics” banner; But, in the end, it was his foreign policy, not his economic programme, that was transformative.
Abe – with clarity, strength of purpose, and his longevity in office – brought credibility to Japanese foreign policy. The fact that the term “Indo-Pacific” is now more commonly used to describe security and diplomatic strategy in Asia is mainly due to Abe, who has built a stronger relationship with India than the already existing Japanese. had demanded. Tried and used it to redo and expand. His country’s position is regional and globally.
This stance was determined by the rise of China and its increasingly assertive rhetoric and actions in and around the South and East China Seas. Under Abe, Japan committed itself to defining a strategic and diplomatic area that would be difficult for China. Deepening ties with India was part of that strategy, as were Abe’s efforts to strengthen Japan’s military. He was a major proponent of proposals to amend the country’s constitution so that its military could play a greater role alongside its major ally, the United States.
Abe was undoubtedly a nationalist. They originally sparked controversy with some revisionist views about Japan’s wartime history, particularly regarding the hot-button issue of “comfort women” who were subjected to sexual slavery in countries occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army. . compelled to.
However, once in office, he largely downplayed his earlier views. In addition, he forged closer and deeper diplomatic ties throughout Southeast Asia, improving relations with the country’s most thorny neighbor and former colony, South Korea. While relations with China were often strained – especially when Abe visited Japan’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine for the war – Sino-Japanese dialogue was still maintained.
It is always difficult to guess the motives of a single killer. The man arrested for Abe’s murder, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, appears to be using a large, homemade shotgun. Given that Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, security at political events is light, even for a former prime minister, which probably explains how the gunman was able to pull it off.
According to news reports, Yamagami served for three years in Japan’s Navy, the Marine Self-Defense Force, until 2005. That background—combined with Abe’s advocacy of a stronger Japanese military—and efforts to abolish the pacifist clause (Article 9). Constitution. It is reasonable to speculate that the assassination was committed in protest against the country’s military posture.
Although Abe was no longer in office, he was undoubtedly the country’s foremost and well-known lawyer with a strong military capability. In that capacity, he often expressed determination to carry out a task begun by his grandfather, Nobosuke Kishi, who, as prime minister, signed the country’s security agreement with the US in 1960 to strengthen Japanese defense. Did it Shepherd through the amendment.
Sadly, it is perhaps not a coincidence that the last Japanese prime minister to be subjected to a violent attack was Kishi, who was stabbed six times by an assailant shortly after the revised security treaty was approved. Unlike Abe, however, his grandfather survived.
The author is a former editor-in-chief of The Economist and co-director of the Global Commission for Post-Pandemic Policy.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2022
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