You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
China-Japan-Koreas
Japan PM Hopeful Wants Stronger Military
2006-09-09
TOKYO (AP) - Shinzo Abe, the front-runner to become Japan's new prime minister, called Friday for his country to build a stronger military as a deterrent and to push ahead with economic reforms as candidates launched their campaigns to lead the governing party. The conservative Abe, who currently serves as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's chief Cabinet secretary, also criticized China and South Korea for a diplomatic standoff with Tokyo and touted Japan's close ties with Washington.

“We need deterrence in order for Japan not to get embroiled in war and to prevent an invasion of Japan. It is a fact that we maintain world peace with deterrent force...”
Abe reiterated his intention to re-examine the country's pacifist constitution, which was drafted by the U.S. occupation force after World War II and renounces the use of force in settling international disputes. "We need deterrence in order for Japan not to get embroiled in war and to prevent an invasion of Japan," Abe said in a separate interview with TBS television. "It is a fact that we maintain world peace with deterrent force."

The 51-year-old Abe, known for his assertive stance toward China and North Korea, said he backed improved relations with Japan's Asian neighbors, but pledged to also preserve Japan's long-standing alliance with the United States. "Our security alliance with the U.S. has brought us security, and has brought peace to the region," Abe said. "To improve relations with China and South Korea, I believe all sides must make efforts to take steps forward."
Posted by:Steve White

#16  ..and what Zen said!! :-)
Posted by: RD   2006-09-09 19:04  

#15  lotp, in the article I only see this indirect reference for the offending acts of WWII.

Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni war shrine, which honors war criminals along with Japan's war dead, have strained ties with China and South Korea, which suffered harsh occupations by the Japanese army. Both countries have held off holding summits with Koizumi in protest.


In #4 you added, Abe has also indicated he might rescind the official apology to China for WWII acts.

Although I hadn't heard this one before, I most certainly have witnessed the Japanese stupidly refusing to recognize their Nation's war crimes committed during WWII for years now.

One wonders why some of the Japanese elites today still deny them, even in their history books some have been scrubbed.

Korea, China, Nan-King, prisoner guinea pigs in Bio camps, millions forced into slave labor, the Philippine horrors, Korean slave prostitutes etc.

That said lotp, Visa Via Japan, In an otherwise very bright picture, the future holds great promise for the USA and Japan...

I believe in Japan and love it's people but I still don't think Japan's denial plays well here in America.

How it plays in Asia I'll leave up to them.
Posted by: RD   2006-09-09 18:59  

#14  I do believe RD means that if America, with its guilt driven culture and Japan with its shame driven culture, could only swap memes, they might just cancel each other out and unlimber us for the onerous tasks ahead. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

As to Japan, I'm prepared to believe that Japan has globalized sufficiently whereby they will not rekindle the sort of destructive nationalism we have witnessed in the past. For one thing, they know bloody well what awaits another demonstration of such foolishness.

Therefore, I support a militarization of Japan as an offset to Chinese hegemony and a further strengthening of Western interests in the Nipponese co-prosperity sphere the Northeast Asian quadrant.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-09-09 18:27  

#13  Help me out on that one, RD. I'm not tracking your meaning.
Posted by: lotp   2006-09-09 14:36  

#12  Japan is a shame culture, not a guilt culture like ours

hummm...looks like an opportunity to swap electrons lotp! »:-)

/down!..bad boy..

woof
Posted by: RD   2006-09-09 14:04  

#11  why retract an apology for horrendous conduct, that can only disgrace Japan itself, it would be as if they are denying their own past or were faking their apology to begin with.

I don't think it would play that way in Asia.

Japan is a shame culture, not a guilt culture like ours. No longer making public apologies is like making a deliberately shallow, perfunctory bow to someone you once gave a long, deep bow to. It means you are asserting a new status vis a vis the others.

I think Abe is saying that the post-WWII era is over and a new era is about to begin in Asia, one in which Japan will no longer seek to placate and pay off those who aggress against her.

Interestingly, there is now a young male heir to the emperor's throne in Japan. Most Japanese are pretty secular, but they are also very much shaped by traditions, with which they identify strongly. I'm not saying we'll see Bushido spring up everywhere in the land of the rising sun, but after 15 years or so of being in economic and other slumps, Japan may just be waking up again.

Be interesting to see if they slowly and subtly start turning around their birthrate in a couple years.
Posted by: lotp   2006-09-09 13:56  

#10  Japan's has negotiated in good faith with their neighbors for decades, even when they've been challenged directly by the Norks, China or the Russians they've acted as a mature state should do dealing with the each crisis exercising restraint.

The issue of their conduct in WWII is not lost on anyone who's family participated [sic fought] in WWII. So I agree with Doc White why retract an apology for horrendous conduct, that can only disgrace Japan itself, it would be as if they are denying their own past or were faking their apology to begin with.

It's about time for Japan to unlimber its defence and offensive [deterrent] potential, in fact I look forward for great things to be developed with our partner Japan.
Posted by: RD   2006-09-09 13:52  

#9  "...with more accurate, technologically evolved, and deadly, weapons"
Posted by: Frank G   2006-09-09 10:42  

#8  I think that's a mistake. Abe should say, " we apologize for the acts of our ancestors, and we pledge never again to commit atrocities as was done by our ancestors in China and Korea, but we live in the world today and will act accordingly."
Posted by: Steve White   2006-09-09 10:39  

#7  The Japanese are not hobbled by Judeo-Christian ideals WRT military force.

Like the ones that served them so well in WWII?
Posted by: Uliter Glosh6909   2006-09-09 10:39  

#6  Sorry, I typed 'policy' when I meant 'apology'.

Abe's comment that if he is elected he might rescind the Japanese government's official apology to China and Korea for acts by Japanese soldiers during that war. That's a pretty strong signal that he sees China and Korea as active threats to his country, as he ought to after China's aggression over disputed islands and North Korea's launching of missiles at/over Japan during the last few years.

The Japanese are not hobbled by Judeo-Christian ideals WRT military force.
Posted by: lotp   2006-09-09 09:46  

#5  Explain, please, lotp. Thanks!
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-09-09 09:27  

#4  Abe has also indicated he might rescind the official policy to China for WWII acts.
Posted by: lotp   2006-09-09 09:19  

#3  Bless you Japan.
Posted by: newc   2006-09-09 04:19  

#2  Peace through strength, a novel idea
Posted by: Captain America   2006-09-09 01:39  

#1  Nice airborne soldier photo! A sunny day, a bit chilly, sleeves rolled down, typical Japanese parachutist weather. A little nip in the air. Hooah!
Posted by: Besoeker   2006-09-09 01:39  

00:00