Aso has also said that he will continue to place relations with Washington as Japan’s top diplomatic priority, while trying to improve ties with neighboring China, whose growing economic and military clout Aso once described as a “major threat.”
Aso, the scion of a political family from southern Japan, could face trouble if he continues his record of ruffling feathers at home and abroad with caustic off-the-cuff comments.
He recently drew ire, for instance, by comparing the top opposition party to the Nazis. In 2001, he was forced to apologize after saying the ideal country would be one that attracts “the richest Jewish people.”
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