Post-election Japan told to mend ties with China
Source: Agencies |
December 18, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
China yesterday urged Japan to properly handle tricky issues between the two countries, a day after the Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide election victory.
On the same day, Shinzo Abe, head of the LDP who is set to be Japan's next prime minister, said he would stand firm on the Diaoyu Islands, an issue which has plunged relations between the two countries to a record low, though promising to improve what he called strategic relations with China.
He said he would work "persistently" to improve relations with China through dialogue, but called for a strategic approach, putting ties with China in the context of Japan's relations with the United States and Asia-Pacific.
"We need to deepen ties with the rest of Asia including India and Australia, and not only diplomatically, but in the fields of security and energy, before starting to work on improving ties with China," Abe said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Diaoyu belonged to China and hoped Japan would deal appropriately with problems in mutual relations. Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters: "We think the most pressing issue is that Japan must show sincerity and take practical steps to appropriately deal with the present situation and work hard to resolve the issue and improve relations between the two countries."
Abe told Xinhua news agency yesterday that the relationship between the two Asian powers was one of the most important bilateral ties for Japan.
He said the current tension had not only damaged bilateral relations, but also scratched Japan's national interests.
He said he would try to revitalize the Sino-Japan strategic and mutually beneficial relations.
On the issue of visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, Abe said that under the current diplomatic situation, it was inappropriate to clearly answer whether he will visit the shrine, which honors World War II criminals among the war dead.
Abe is expected to become prime minister on December 26.
Known as a right-wing hawk, he hails from a high-profile political family. His maternal grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, was Japan's prime minister in 1957-60. Kishi was held as a Class A war crimes suspect for three years after World War II until he was released in 1948.
"Abe's beliefs and values are similar to Kishi's," Japanese Diet (legislature) member Katsuei Hirasawa once told Bryan Walsh of Time magazine. "He inherited his grandfather's political DNA."
Abe yesterday also piled pressure on Japan's central bank as it prepared for a policy meeting, saying voters had overwhelmingly backed his call for a more aggressive monetary stimulus.
Abe said that once he had formed his Cabinet, he would instruct ministers to produce a joint statement with the Bank of Japan that will give it a 2 percent inflation target.
Abe campaigned for "unlimited" monetary easing by the bank and promising a surge in public spending to snap the economy out of recession.
"It was very rare for monetary policy to be the focus of attention in an election, but there was strong public support to our view," Abe told his first post-election news conference.
NHK TV said the LDP had won 294 seats in the 480-member lower house. Its ally, the New Komeito party, won 31 seats, giving the two the two-thirds majority needed to overrule most matters in the upper house, where no party has a majority.
On the same day, Shinzo Abe, head of the LDP who is set to be Japan's next prime minister, said he would stand firm on the Diaoyu Islands, an issue which has plunged relations between the two countries to a record low, though promising to improve what he called strategic relations with China.
He said he would work "persistently" to improve relations with China through dialogue, but called for a strategic approach, putting ties with China in the context of Japan's relations with the United States and Asia-Pacific.
"We need to deepen ties with the rest of Asia including India and Australia, and not only diplomatically, but in the fields of security and energy, before starting to work on improving ties with China," Abe said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Diaoyu belonged to China and hoped Japan would deal appropriately with problems in mutual relations. Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters: "We think the most pressing issue is that Japan must show sincerity and take practical steps to appropriately deal with the present situation and work hard to resolve the issue and improve relations between the two countries."
Abe told Xinhua news agency yesterday that the relationship between the two Asian powers was one of the most important bilateral ties for Japan.
He said the current tension had not only damaged bilateral relations, but also scratched Japan's national interests.
He said he would try to revitalize the Sino-Japan strategic and mutually beneficial relations.
On the issue of visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, Abe said that under the current diplomatic situation, it was inappropriate to clearly answer whether he will visit the shrine, which honors World War II criminals among the war dead.
Abe is expected to become prime minister on December 26.
Known as a right-wing hawk, he hails from a high-profile political family. His maternal grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, was Japan's prime minister in 1957-60. Kishi was held as a Class A war crimes suspect for three years after World War II until he was released in 1948.
"Abe's beliefs and values are similar to Kishi's," Japanese Diet (legislature) member Katsuei Hirasawa once told Bryan Walsh of Time magazine. "He inherited his grandfather's political DNA."
Abe yesterday also piled pressure on Japan's central bank as it prepared for a policy meeting, saying voters had overwhelmingly backed his call for a more aggressive monetary stimulus.
Abe said that once he had formed his Cabinet, he would instruct ministers to produce a joint statement with the Bank of Japan that will give it a 2 percent inflation target.
Abe campaigned for "unlimited" monetary easing by the bank and promising a surge in public spending to snap the economy out of recession.
"It was very rare for monetary policy to be the focus of attention in an election, but there was strong public support to our view," Abe told his first post-election news conference.
NHK TV said the LDP had won 294 seats in the 480-member lower house. Its ally, the New Komeito party, won 31 seats, giving the two the two-thirds majority needed to overrule most matters in the upper house, where no party has a majority.
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