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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| JapanÂ’s Likely Next Premier in Hawkish Stand |
| 2006-09-02 |
| Shinzo Abe, the nationalist politician who is expected to become Japan’s next prime minister, said Friday that Japan should revise the pacifist Constitution imposed on it by the United States. He made the statement as he formally declared his candidacy for the presidency of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, a post that would give him the prime ministership. Mr. Abe, the chief cabinet secretary, also said Japan should seek a larger role in the world and further strengthen its alliance with the United States. “As the next L.D.P. president, I’d like to take the lead to put revision of the Constitution on the political agenda,” Mr. Abe said at a regional party convention in Hiroshima. “I’d like to draft a new Constitution with my own hands,” he added. Mr. Abe is almost certain to succeed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who according to party rules will retire later this month. The Liberal Democrats control the lower house of Parliament, which chooses the prime minister. Two other politicians have declared their candidacy in the party election of Sept. 20: Taro Aso, the hawkish foreign minister, and Sadakazu Tanigaki, the finance minister, who has emphasized repairing Japan’s strained relations with China and South Korea. But polls indicate that neither has a chance of mounting a serious challenge against Mr. Abe, who remains the leading choice of the general public and, more important, the party lawmakers and members who will cast the votes. Mr. Koizumi is said to have long favored Mr. Abe, whom he appointed as the chief cabinet secretary, the government’s second most visible position after prime minister. Recently, as Mr. Koizumi’s interest in government seemed to wane in his last weeks in office, Mr. Abe appeared to have already grabbed the baton. His image as Mr. Koizumi’s heir apparent was further solidified after North Korea tested long-range missiles in early July. The perceived threat from North Korea played to Mr. Abe’s strengths as a hawk, and he wasted no time in suggesting that Japan, a pacifist nation, should debate whether it should acquire the military capacity for a pre-emptive strike. More at link |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #18 China cares about China. I no longer worry about being liked |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-02 23:28 |
| #17 My only worry about Japan as an armed state is that deep and impenatrable racism endimic and still spread in schools may I add. But as a partner in the world, they have pulled buketloads of the worlds weight in many areas. They are worth their weight in gold. Our hands are full and Japan has proven to be a responsible Nation. Their protection is the US responsibility currently. Not a responsibility the US needs to have. If we held less presence in the region do you think it could help US grow warmer with China? |
| Posted by: newc 2006-09-02 23:23 |
| #16 TW: I was referring to Chinese beliefs and LLL fever dreams. Should be obvious that I am not ashamed of US history. |
| Posted by: SR-71 2006-09-02 21:56 |
| #15 TW: “What imperialist past? The Europeans have such a past, but the US doesn't. Any such shame is artificially grafted.” US imperialism… In the 1800’s, the expression was Manifest Destiny and the goal was a US nation that spanned the continent. The players were various Indian tribes, the British in the Oregon Territories, the French as in the Louisiana Purchase, Russia as in the Alaska Purchase, and Spain/Mexico in Texas, New Mexico, and California. In some cases, e.g., the Cherokee, the native people were pushed out by encroaching white settlers after a series of broken treaties and skirmishes. In other cases, e.g., the Blackfeet, Indian tribes had created their own little empires by driving other tribes out using guns purchased from fur traders. In most cases the US took control from other imperialistic regimes. Much of North America was sparsely populated and the Western governments had little knowledge of the territories and little ability to project power or govern. Essentially there was a power vacuum and the US was determined to be the first major power to exert control. The US gained territory by building railroads and telegraph lines and by encouraging settlement by US citizens. The combination of US military power projection together with monetary compensation for territory led to the present US nation. With the exception of Hawaii and the Panama Canal Zone, the US people have shown little desire for possessions outside North America. I suspect that the Civil War dampened national enthusiasm for military adventures at a time when European nations were establishing foreign colonies. As a US citizen from generations of Americans, including Indian ancestors, I feel no shame for US history. I feel a little pride that I come from a line of winners. Of course the same is true for all people alive today. Losers leave few descendants. Your ancestors conquered other people and repelled invaders. (If you are a Mexican Indian read the history of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca empires concerning military domination of surrounding territories.) |
| Posted by: Hupeger Creamble4059 2006-09-02 21:40 |
| #14 Generally, when people talk about America's "imperialist past", they are refering to the Philipines and Puerto Rico, which we were responsible for after kicking Spain's ass in the Spanish-American War. However, the Philipines have been independent since 1946, and Puerto Rico is integrated into the US as a Commonwealth. And the Puerto Ricans LOVE that status, since they turn down both independence and statehood at every opportunity. The main area of imperialism for the Europeans was Africa, and the US has turned down several opportunities to have internationally sanctioned protectorates in Africa : Somalia, Liberia, and the Ivory Coast being the most recent countries with popular support for that type of American intervention. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-09-02 20:27 |
| #13 What imperialist past? The Europeans have such a past, but the US doesn't. Any such shame is artificially grafted. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-09-02 18:06 |
| #12 Add India and Mongolia to that alliance.. BTW, Mao isn't buried. His preserved carcass is on public display in Beijing, in a crystal casket. |
| Posted by: john 2006-09-02 17:39 |
| #11 China's worst nightmare - a nuclear-armed, heavily-fortified Japan with a revised Constitution allowing them a real Army, Navy, and Air Force, coupled with a Japan-Taiwan-South Korea-Philippines mutual defense treaty. Mao would come up out of the ground at 80,000rpm, headed for the moon. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-09-02 17:14 |
| #10 whadya mean "we"? I suuport a resurgent self-defense-capable Japan. I do not fear Japan. I fear NK's mania and China's efforts to topple Taiwan. Sounds like a welcome addition to all equations |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-02 16:48 |
| #9 #6 - whaddaya mean "we," white man? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-09-02 16:22 |
| #8 Hirohito is long dead. |
| Posted by: john 2006-09-02 16:12 |
| #7 Who's the "We"? Not militaristic but with credible defences. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2006-09-02 15:55 |
| #6 We can not support Japan being millitarist http://www.lonympics.co.uk/japanoppresstorture.htm |
| Posted by: Whater Threremble5590 2006-09-02 15:40 |
| #5 Wait till they test a nuke. Chicoms will go ballistic... |
| Posted by: john 2006-09-02 15:29 |
| #4 Chinese-Japanese enmity goes back far beyond WW II. A resurgent Japan will give the Chicoms a few sleepless nights. While the Chinese can depend on our Western shame at our imperialist past to restrain us, the Japanese will not be so inhibited. Bejing has brought this on itself. |
| Posted by: SR-71 2006-09-02 15:05 |
| #3 This should throw the ChiComs into a tizzy, but they only have themselves to blame. Letting your little rabid lapdog Kim Jong Il run loose might not have been such a good idea, eh? Expect to see lots of violent anti-Japanese demonstrations in the near future since leftover ill will from WWII and beyond is still quite strong. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2006-09-02 11:24 |
| #2 It's a Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Kim-Jong-Il plot. |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2006-09-02 08:15 |
| #1 Unintended consequences are exactly what happens when careless Socialist skullduggery is outed as it has been. Japan has a very Big and well oiled printing press. hugobobo achtung lilkim babyasshat and the minders in moscow and beijing will now have to reprogram their subversion calendars with these unfolding data. |
| Posted by: Glomoling Ebbainter7658 2006-09-02 08:07 |