An Assertive Japan ? - Shinzo Abe Calls for 'Stronger Nation'

[sasi]

New Japan PM good news for India

New Japan PM good news for India - Hindustan Times
Indian officials believe Shinzo Abe's landslide election victory this weekend means the long-awaited bilateral nuclear agreement with Japan "will come through". Earlier attempts by Tokyo have foundered due to India's unwillingness to sign the test ban treaty. Not only is Liberal
Democratic Party's Abe the most pro-Indian prime ministerJapan has ever had, he campaigned on an openly pro-nuclear platform. His victory indirectly boosts India's nuclear programme by laying to rest the ghost of Fukushima. Despite the accident, Japan's Sankei newspaper says this election saw pro-nuclear legislators increase their number from 132 to 346.
Indian officials expect Abe to robustly push Japanese investment into the country.
Japanese firms already are big investors, but more wouldcome if they get a "helping hand" from Tokyo.
Says Hemant Singh, former Indian ambassador to Japan: "Abe learnt about the importance of India to Japan on the knees of his grandfather, Nobosuke Kiishi." Kiishi was the first post-War Japanese leader to visit India.
Abe spelled out his vision for India and Japan in a speech tothe Indian Parliament in 2007.
His contributions to India's place in the modern world are many. One, he replaced "Asia-Pacific" with the idea ofan "Indo-Pacific" Asia.
"This was the first time an international leader used this in geopolitical discourse and argued the two oceans were seamlessly connected," Singh says.
Two, Abe's thesis that "a strong interest is in the best interest of Japan" and vice versa helped forge a bipartisan consensus in Tokyo regarding India's importance. He and George W Bush were the first two world leaders to call India a "naturalally".
Three, Abe argued that "when we build a community inAsia, maritime democracies should lead the pack".
This strategic concept underpins the annual Malabar naval exercises that have included Japan, India, the US and occasionally Australia — and attracted Chinese protests.
Four, he called for a "Delhi consensus" – a model of fast growth with democracy as a counter to the dominant "Beijing consensus". The term was picked up by The Economist and other Western media for a short while. Abe liked to say he wanted to be "the salesman" of such an Indian model.
The Japanese prime minister-to-be was not without a lighter side.
In a speech in Delhi in 2011, he invited the Indian navy to Japan's base in Djibouti, in the horn of Africa, but added that the "gorgeous stars fromBollywood would be even more welcome".
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[Ray]

Re: New Japan PM good news for India

Abe is said to be hawkish in approach.

There is talk within Japan that the Constitution requires a change wherein Japan becomes more activist than slumber along with its pacifism. This is more so since the new posture of China has spooked Japan to a great extent.

However, China is the largest trade partner of Japan and that issue will have to be kept central to all posturing. China will not be very happy if Japan takes any action that might appear Japan's return to the militarist attitude, given China's experience with Japan.

In so far as India is concerned, Japan, under the new regime, will attempt to enlarge its relationship in the economic, strategic, industrial and energy fields.

It is assumed that Abe will pursue harder for the Japan - Australia - India - US strategic networking with South China Sea as the centre of gavity.

 

[sob]

Re: New Japan PM good news for India

@Ray,

Sir I deal with a couple of Japanese companies and they have informed me that since the dispute over the Islands have started they have started receiving cancellations against their export orders from Chinese customers. According to them in last 3-4 weeks their export orders from China have come down by almost 75%.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Re: Japanese political Challenger hints at militarization

Hawk's return in Japan heartens US

Hawk's return in Japan

The return of conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Japan has raised hopes in Washington for closer security ties, although US officials hope he keeps a lid on his more strident views.

Abe is a champion of revising the post-World War II pacifist constitution and may take shorter-term steps such as boosting defense spending and allowing greater military cooperation with the United States, Japan's treaty-bound ally.

His Liberal Democratic Party, which ruled almost continuously from 1955 until 2009, roared back Sunday with a crushing victory over the Democratic Party of Japan, which Abe accused of harming relations with the United States.

President Barack Obama's relations with DPJ-led Japanese governments have substantially improved after early friction. But Abe is seen as more supportive of US force deployments and has vowed no compromise with China in a worsening row over disputed islands.

Michael Green, the senior vice president for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that Abe's victory was a "net positive" for the United States and could in fact stabilize Japan-China ties.

"The view in Beijing is that their pressure tactics are working on Japan and I think it's important to disabuse them of that," Green said.

But Green, who served as the top Asia adviser to former president George W. Bush, feared that a new team in the second Obama administration could follow a "simplistic media picture" of a more hawkish Japan and potentially isolate Abe.

"If the administration decides it has to somehow counter Japan's shift to the right by brokering between Japan and China, it would not go well either in relations with Japan or China," he said.

But Green said that US priorities in Asia -- particularly the relationship between allies Japan and South Korea -- could face setbacks if Abe pursues a hard line over emotive history issues.

Abe, whose grandfather was arrested but not indicted as a World War II war criminal, has called in the past for rescinding Japan's apology to wartime sex slaves, known euphemistically as "comfort women."

But Abe, during his previous 2006-2007 premiership, worked to repair ties with China and South Korea and avoided politically charged visits to the Yasukuni shrine, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead including war criminals.

"There is a concern for US policymakers that his revisionist inclinations will spark new tensions in the region, but his statements of late have at least tried to temper those anxieties," said Weston Konishi, director of Asia-Pacific studies at the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis.

"I think the hope is that he'll take a very responsible approach," he said.

Abe will likely face domestic pressure not to antagonize neighbors. Japanese business leaders have been alarmed by tensions and Abe governs in a coalition with New Komeito, a Buddhist party with pacifist views.

Konishi said there were "probably some circles in town that welcome" the return of familiar faces in the Liberal Democratic Party, but added that the Obama administration had developed a strong relationship with the Democrats.

Obama congratulated Abe and called the US-Japan alliance "the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific." State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington has "worked with Japanese governments of both parties for decades" and looked forward to working with Abe.

James Schoff, a former Pentagon official who is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that Abe's effort on defense could be "a net benefit for everyone" if Japan complements the United States.

"But if the focus is more toward building up offensive capabilities vis-a-vis China, that's going to create probably more problems than it's worth from a US perspective," he said.

Yukio Hatoyama, the first prime minister following the DPJ's landmark 2009 win, resigned after clashing with the United States over the status of a controversial military base in Okinawa.

Relations improved after the round-the-clock US response to last year's tsunami and the Obama administration enjoyed strong ties with outgoing prime minister Yoshihiko Noda, who supported joining talks on a US-backed trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The Liberal Democrats have been divided on the emerging deal. The party relies on support from farmers, many of whom adamantly oppose foreign competition.

 

[no smoking]

Re: Japanese political Challenger hints at militarization

Hahahahaha there is a big difference of re arming and militarization

No matter it is re-arming or militarization, japanese social structure and demographic condition can not support it as 1930s.
Furthermore, in 1930s, Japan was facing the weakest China in history. Today, Japan itself cannot do nothing to China more than staring.

 

[amoy]

Re: New Japan PM good news for India

@Ray,

Sir I deal with a couple of Japanese companies and they have informed me that since the dispute over the Islands have started they have started receiving cancellations against their export orders from Chinese customers. According to them in last 3-4 weeks their export orders from China have come down by almost 75%.

I subscribe to a "conspiracy" theory that the anti-Jap sentiments are also used to squeeze market share out of Japanese for indigenous companies. However to Chinese manufacturers' chargin much of the share particularly of auto industry has shifted to German and Korean competitors instead.

At TV interviews voters complained about DPJ cabinets failures on such as children allowance, nuclear accident relief and recession... How would Abe tackle challenges such as TPP, pressure on closing ALL nuke power stations， and economy recovery?

LDP who rules post-war Japan most of time is consisting of different factions overtly. Those factions interact and often have marriages of convenience to determine LDP president who in turns becomes the PM. When these factions are in disarray the cabinet may have to step down if without a majority support inside LDP. There'll be another election In 6 months, but for the Senate. Last time Abe stayed in power for almost 1yr only. How long will he hold the power this time around? That is a question.

 

[Zero_Wing]

Re: Japanese political Challenger hints at militarization

No matter it is re-arming or militarization, japanese social structure and demographic condition can not support it as 1930s.
Furthermore, in 1930s, Japan was facing the weakest China in history. Today, Japan itself cannot do nothing to China more than staring.

Why do you people keep insisting on this illogical nonsense

 

[satish007]

Re: Japanese political Challenger hints at militarization

[SUP][/SUP]

Why do you people keep insisting on this illogical nonsense

Why you like American ass? Chinese underling is a better job.

 

[Zero_Wing]

Re: Japanese political Challenger hints at militarization

[SUP][/SUP]
Why you like American ass? Chinese underling is a better job.

Racial card really that's the best you can do? really how old are you?

 

[sob]

Re: New Japan PM good news for India

@amoy,

Abe has no magic wand for Japan, and neither will his coming to power change everything. For the Japanese people beset with a sagging economy, no jobs and rising tension with China, he promises a move away from the paralysis of the previous Government.
His performance will be keenly looked into. To me the most important is the way he tackles the bureaucracy which is so deeply entrenched in Japan. For the global economy we need Japan to start growing economically again. We cannot depend on the US, EU and to some extent PRC to lead the growth. Japan has been an important driver of the world economy and is required to pull it's weight once again.

 

[s002wjh]

Re: Japanese political Challenger hints at militarization

well if japan rearming, then both korea gonna rearming too. meaning china will also accelerate its military. so some kind of asia cold war.

 

[s002wjh]

Re: Japanese political Challenger hints at militarization

also both korea is not an ally of japan, skorea hate japanese as much as chinese, so japan really don't have ally in asia/nearby

 

[Bhadra]

Re: Japanese political Challenger hints at militarization

Rearming or not, it wont help their demographic crisis.

RealClearWorld - Japan's Coming Demographic Crisis

Japanese are disappearing in slow motion and so far, there is no rescue plan. Every January, those turning 20 over the next twelve months celebrate their Coming-of-Age Day at shrines across the nation. Yet each year there are fewer of them. This year, only 1.2 million youth will turn 20, half as many as in 1970.

On U.N. calculations, the 2010 population of 127 million will shrink by a fifth, to 101.6 million in 2050. Moreover, the decline speeds up over time, with the population dropping by 6.65% between 2015 and 2030, but plummeting a whopping 13.4% from 2030 to 2050-far and away the worst growth projection in the world.

Good luck to them!

So will China and her population....... Is not it?
It is not a big loss as compared to China.

So good luck to Chinese too !

 

[Bhadra]

Re: Japanese political Challenger hints at militarization

No matter it is re-arming or militarization, japanese social structure and demographic condition can not support it as 1930s.
Furthermore, in 1930s, Japan was facing the weakest China in history. Today, Japan itself cannot do nothing to China more than staring.

Do not worry....
Indian population specially the youth is going to explode by 1230.

 

[Phenom]

Re: Japanese political Challenger hints at militarization

I wouldn't hold my hopes up for re-arming of Japan, the biggest problem with them is their extremely fluid politics, iirc they had 7 different PMs in the last 6 years and no PM has crossed 2 year mark.

And more importantly, with change of Primeministers there is also a change in policy regarding foreign affairs, some PMs are more assertive but others are more pacifist. Military rearmament needs atleast a decade of constant backing from the govt, with Japan current politics I don't see it happening.

 

[s002wjh]

the things is if japan start more hardline and result a conflict with china, world economy gonna suffer alot. there is nothing gain for india either, so don't be happy about it because something bad happen in the world. japan really don't have good ally in asia, US is neutral in the dispute, and US dont like a hardline japan either.
both need backoff a bit.

now i understand why chinese dislike indian, anytime china suffer, indian are celebrate about it.

 

[ganesh177]

the things is if japan start more hardline and result a conflict with china, world economy gonna suffer alot. there is nothing gain for india either, so don't be happy about it because something bad happen in the world. japan really don't have good ally in asia, US is neutral in the dispute, and US dont like a hardline japan either.
both need backoff a bit.

now i understand why chinese dislike indian, anytime china suffer, indian are celebrate about it.

So you have already accepted that china is gonna suffer due to Abe's win ?

And just FYI, there is no loss for india really if japan again teaches the lesson to china.

Given your quality of english you are obviously chinese, then why are you wearing a american flag ?

 

[s002wjh]

So you have already accepted that china is gonna suffer due to Abe's win ?

And just FYI, there is no loss for india really if japan again teaches the lesson to china.

Given your quality of english you are obviously chinese, then why are you wearing a american flag ?

no what i point out is anytime china has economy slide or something bad happen. people on this forum are happy about it, even there is nothing to gain from.

i write fast and don't check my spelling, its not like i'm doing final report. i'm wearing US flag because i'm an american, and i dont wish a conflict between two largest economy in the world

 

[s002wjh]

also all these things are just talks, trading between china/japan still going strong. at the end of the day, $$ and economy still is the most important issue for both country.

 

[no smoking]

So you have already accepted that china is gonna suffer due to Abe's win ?

There is no doubt about that! No one is going to win anything without paying. The question is who is going to suffer more!

And just FYI, there is no loss for india really if japan again teaches the lesson to china.

Looks like China is teaching Japan a lesson: without American daddy's protection, Japan can't teach anyone the lesson!

Given your quality of english you are obviously chinese, then why are you wearing a american flag ?

I believe he once claimed that he was serving in US force. That will be a good enough reason for him to wear an american flag.

The question is why many indians are wearing foreign flags?