Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday defended his economic record and pledged a controversial reform of the nation’s post-war constitution, as he launched his campaign for another term as head of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Abe is seen comfortably winning the vote on Thursday next week against his sole challenger — former minister of defense Shigeru Ishiba, which would put him on track to become Japan’s longest-serving prime minister.
A victory would effectively keep Abe in power for another three-year term at the helm of the world’s third-largest economy.
Photo: AFP
“It’s time to tackle constitutional reform,” Abe said, adding that he aims to submit a reform bill to parliament later this year.
Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, forged in the aftermath of World War II, forces the pacifist nation to “forever renounce war” and stipulates that armed forces will “never be maintained.”
This creates a headache for Japan’s Self-Defence Forces (SDF), a well-equipped military stuck in a constitutional gray zone.
With regional tensions still high, allies have urged Japan to bolster the SDF’s role, but former foes in Beijing, Seoul and Pyongyang would likely react furiously.
Abe also vaunted the record of his “Abenomics” policy, which combines ultraloose monetary policy with fiscal stimulus in a bid to pep up the former Asian economic powerhouse.
“The ratio of job offers to seekers is at a record high... We were able to regain a decent economy,” Abe said.
With two massive international sporting events coming up — the Rugby World Cup next year and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics — Abe said his policy of boosting tourism is also “working as an detonator” to boost local economies.
Rival Ishiba has identified demographic concerns and the regional security threat from North Korea as the two biggest challenges facing Japan.
“What I want to do is revitalize the economy and the core of this task is to revitalize the countryside,” Ishiba said yesterday.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not