Posts tagged ‘Prime Minister of Japan’

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04/09/2014

Japan PM Abe appoints China-friendly lawmakers to key posts | Reuters

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe picked two veteran lawmakers with friendly ties to China for top party posts on Wednesday in an apparent signal of hope for a thaw in chilly ties with Beijing and a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe walks into the Prime Minister's official residence in Tokyo September 3, 2014. REUTERS/Yuya Shino

The change in executives in Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is part of a broad leadership rejig, including a cabinet reshuffle, aimed at strengthening party unity and polishing Abe’s image 20 months after he surged back to office.

In a move welcomed by Tokyo stock market players, Abe drafted Yasuhisa Shiozaki, 63, a proponent of an overhaul of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), to head the ministry of labor, health and welfare, which oversees GPIF.

The fund is finalizing plans to boost the weighting of domestic stocks in its portfolio.

Abe also gave women almost a third of the posts in his 18-minister cabinet to show his commitment to promoting women as part of his “Abenomics” growth strategy.

But he retained core cabinet members such as Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Finance Minister Taro Aso, 73, Economics Minister Akira Amari, 65, and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, 57, signaling policy continuity.

Abe’s new line-up faces a number of challenges, including how to repair ties with China that have been frayed by rows over disputed territory and Japan’s wartime history, and whether to go ahead with a planned sales tax rise next year despite signs the economy is faltering.

via Japan PM Abe appoints China-friendly lawmakers to key posts | Reuters.

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18/08/2014

Japanese Prime Minister Avoids Controversial War Shrine – Businessweek

On Friday morning, while several members of his cabinet marked the anniversary of World War II’s end by visiting a controversial shrine in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wisely decided to sleep in. He had caused a storm last December by paying a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead. By skipping Yasukuni, Abe may have improved the chances of a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping that could help defuse tensions between the two countries.

The Imperial chrysanthemum crest is displayed at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo

The shrine has long been a problem for Chinese and Koreans. The Chinese media often refers to the shrine as “notorious.” “Each and every visit here by officials upsets and incenses Japan’s neighboring countries,” says a Xinhua commentary published on Friday. The shrine is a symbol “of the brutality of Japanese rule and military expansion,” Lee Won Deog, a professor of Japanese studies at Kookmin University in Seoul, told Bloomberg News. By visiting Yasukuni anyway, Japanese politicians show that “Japan continues to overlook the pain it caused its neighbors during its imperial expansion.”

A look at the shrine’s website shows why visits are so sensitive. In describing the shrine and the almost 2.5 million people it honors, Yasukuni does whitewash Japan’s history of aggression toward its neighbors. Some of the souls enshrined at Yasukuni died as Imperial Japan colonized Korea and Taiwan, occupied Manchuria, and brutalized many parts of China. But according to Yasukuni’s narrative, they died “to protect their country,” and “all sacrificed their lives to the public duty of protecting their motherland.” The shrine “is a place for Japanese people to show their appreciation and respect to those who died to protect their mother country, Japan.”

And what about the World War II-era war criminals enshrined there? Yasukini says not that they were convicted, but rather, that some “were labeled war criminals” (emphasis added) and executed after trials by the victorious Allies.

Some Japanese politicians worry about the way the shrine talks about Japan’s past militarism. Yasukuni “pays homage to war criminals, and exhibitions within its walls extol wars,” former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said in an interview with the China Daily published on Thursday. “I think the best solution is that prime ministers and cabinet members shun the shrine.”

Abe, though, is trying to have it both ways: He didn’t visit today, but two members of his cabinet did—and the prime minister sent a donation through an aide.

via Japanese Prime Minister Avoids Controversial War Shrine – Businessweek.

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17/07/2014

With Tensions Rising, Japanese Investment in China Plummets – Businessweek

Another consequence of the worsening Sino-Japanese relations: Japanese investment into China dropped by nearly half in the first six month of 2014, according to a new report by China’s Ministry of Commerce. As recently a 2012, Japanese investment posted growth of 16.3 percent, reaching $7.28 billion. The decline actually started last year, with a 4.3 percent drop.

Zhang Jifeng, director of the Japanese economy department in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the China Daily that Japan’s entrepreneurs are “waiting and watching.” He added: ”They’re profoundly aware of the connection between the political climate and their commercial performance [in China]. They don’t want to put their assets at risk.”

English: Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

English: Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

China and Japan are in a dispute over the ownership of the uninhabited Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe further angered Beijing in December when he visited Tokyo’s Yasukuni shrine, a temple that honors Japanese soldiers but also its war criminals. Earlier this month Japan’s cabinet passed a resolution reinterpreting its pacifist constitution so its military can defend its allies.

via With Tensions Rising, Japanese Investment in China Plummets – Businessweek.

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01/02/2014

* India, Japan to cooperate in energy, telecoms – Businessweek

India and Japan have signed agreements on cooperation in the energy and telecom sectors during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe\’s visit to New Delhi.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held talks with Abe on Saturday and said India was taking steps to facilitate Japan\’s links with India\’s growing economy.

Singh said that India also was discussing with Japan the possibility of buying an amphibian aircraft called the US-2 and its co-production in India. \”More broadly, we are working toward increasing our cooperation in the area of advanced technologies.\”

The two agreed to hold regular consultations between their national security councils on security issues. India invited Japan\’s Maritime Self-Defense Force to participate in this year\’s India-U.S. naval exercises off India\’s western coast, according to a joint statement issued after the official talks.

The Indo-U.S. exercises, launched in 2006, include air operations and sea control missions aimed at preventing piracy and countering terrorism at sea.

Abe arrived in New Delhi on Saturday for a three-day visit. He was the chief guest at India\’s Republic Day celebrations on Sunday.

via India, Japan to cooperate in energy, telecoms – Businessweek.

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25/01/2014

* Shinzo Abe’s visit a signal to China, others – The Times of India

English: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at...

With economics as the bedrock of a growing partnership, India and Japan are ready to move to the next level. When Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday, the two sides are likely to kick off a top-level political-security dialogue between the two national security advisers, Shivshankar Menon and Shotaro Yachi.

Coming on the heels of the visit of the Japanese Emperor and Empress in December, the Abe visit will send a whole new set of signals to many in Asia and beyond – particularly the elephant in the room, China. Abe will not only be the first Japanese prime minister to be India\’s Republic Day chief guest, his presence at India\’s annual civil-military parade, an integral part of Indian life, will signal that the a pacifist Japan can be comfortable with a show of military strength.

The two sides are expected to announce more maritime exercises even though there will be no agreement on civil nuclear energy. Discussions on that have been stuck on non-proliferation commitments, finding a happy medium between the Japanese and Indian positions. India and Japan have started negotiations for the purchase of Japan\’s amphibian aircraft, US-2, which Japan plans to sell to India as a civilian aircraft, though it has military uses as well. The first set of discussions took place in the end of December, a second meeting is scheduled in the coming weeks.

The stepping up of defence and security cooperation between India and Japan has increased even as Japan\’s relationship with China and South Korea has plummeted in recent months. In what is being seen as an unprecedented war of words, Chinese and Japanese envoys around the world are waging a battle on the op-ed columns of newspapers regarding bilateral tensions on the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands.

via Shinzo Abe’s visit a signal to China, others – The Times of India.

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24/01/2014

In India, Abe hopes to conclude Japan’s first defence sale in 40 years | Reuters

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits India this weekend, hoping to wrap up the first overseas sale of military equipment by Tokyo in nearly four decades and open up the world\’s biggest arms market for his nation\’s defence manufacturers.

English: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at...

English: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Abe\’s visit to India will underline growing business and political ties between the two nations as they close ranks against mutual rival China, with the initial focus on the sale of amphibious search and rescue aircraft to India.

Japan and India are also trying to finalise an agreement on civilian nuclear energy that would open up the Indian market to Japanese players, officials said, reflecting another shift in Tokyo\’s policy on a sensitive issue. However, a Japanese official said a signing was unlikely during the visit.

Japanese officials say the proposed sale of ShinMaywa US-2i planes would not infringe Japan\’s self-imposed ban on arms exports because the aircraft to be given to India will be unarmed and can be used for civilian purposes.

Still, it will give India considerable aviation reach across the seas and could raise China\’s ire.

via In India, Abe hopes to conclude Japan’s first defence sale in 40 years | Reuters.

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25/01/2013

* China, Japan move to cool down territorial dispute

Reuters: “China and Japan sought to cool down tensions over a chafing territorial dispute on Friday, with Communist Party chief Xi Jinping telling an envoy from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that he was committed to developing bilateral ties.

Natsuo Yamaguchi (L), leader of Japan's New Komeito party, delivers a personal letter from Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to China's president-in-waiting Xi Jinping during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, January 25, 2013. REUTERS-Ng Han Guan-Pool

Xi will consider holding a summit meeting with Abe, Natsuo Yamaguchi, a senior lawmaker and head of the junior partner in Japan’s ruling coalition, told reporters after his talks with the Chinese leader.

The meeting came as China took the dispute over a series of uninhabited islands to the United Nations.

It was not immediately clear if the U.N. involvement would increase the likelihood the row would be resolved peacefully. But launching an international legal process could reduce the temperature for now.

At China’s request, the United Nations will, later this year, consider the scientific validity of a claim by Beijing that the islands, called the Diaoyu in Chinese and the Senkaku by Japan, are part of its territory. Japan says the world body should not be involved.”

via China, Japan move to cool down territorial dispute | Reuters.

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