Abe maps out robust Japanese foreign policy

Japan’s new nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today pledged to make his country a decisive force on the international stage while restoring values of hard work and patriotism at home.

Abe, in his first speech before Parliament since winning the premiership in a landslide vote on Tuesday, also vowed to drive ahead with revising the pacifist Constitution and exploring a collective defence system with the United States.

“I believe it’s entirely possible to create a country brimming with attractiveness and vigour, while maintaining the noble virtues of the Japanese people,” he said.

“I aim for a country that is trusted, revered and loved by the world and asserts its leadership.”

Though critics say the new prime minister lacks the charisma of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, Abe has struck a chord with the public by campaigning on a populist, nationalist agenda: He wants a more confident Japan that can distance itself from post-World War II guilt by amending the Constitution and giving the military a bigger international profile.

Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party has long campaigned to replace the pacifist Constitution, drafted by US forces after the Second World War, to revise phrasing that renounces the country’s right to belligerency and bans maintaining a military for warfare.

He also promised to strengthen patriotism training in classrooms.

“The objective of education is to foster an ambitious people, and to build a dignified state and society,” Abe said. “I will immediately engage in a revival of education to create citizens who treasure their families, their regions, their country, and life itself.”

Abe, 52, also vowed to push for a reduction of tensions with China and South Korea. Tokyo announced yesterday that he and South Korea’s president had agreed to meet soon, and his aides were trying to arrange a similar meeting with China’s leader.

“China and South Korea are important neighbours,” Abe said. “Strengthening relationships of trust with the two countries is vital to Asia and to international society, and I believe it is important to communicate candidly and in a forward-looking way.”

But he reiterated his hard-line stance against North Korea, refusing to establish diplomatic ties with it until its past abductions of Japanese citizens are resolved.

Abe promised measures to boost the country’s competitiveness to support its resurgent economy, while vowing to cut down on government expenses.

Abe, who himself has taken a 30% pay cut to demonstrate his commitment to trimming the budget, promised fresh government job cuts and reform of the state’s sprawling policy finance institutions.

He also outlined plans to overhaul the country’s pension system – including dismantling the scandal-ridden Social Insurance Agency – in an attempt to deflect criticism that his focus on security and foreign policy was taking attention away from pressing domestic issues.

Abe, who has almost no experience in economic matters, has been condemned by critics who say his financial policies are too vague. He has also been accused of side-stepping the need for tax hikes to pay for the mounting medical and retirement costs of an ageing population.