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Shinzo Abe assured clout over next Prime Minister Kishida
Abe's muscular defense policies and stern stance toward an assertive Beijing, while leaving the door open to dialogue given vital economic ties with China, will be a foundation of Japan's diplomacy and security policies under Kishida, analysts say.
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Fumio Kishida, former foreign minister, poses for a photo following a press conference after being elected as the new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo on September 29, 2021.
(AFP/Du Xiaoyi )
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apan's former premier Shinzo Abe wasn't running in this week's ruling party poll to pick Japan's next leader but the victory of his one-time foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, means Abe and his conservative base are the winners, their policy clout assured.
Abe's muscular defense policies and stern stance toward an assertive Beijing, while leaving the door open to dialogue given vital economic ties with China, will be a foundation of Japan's diplomacy and security policies under Kishida, analysts say.
"The priority will be to strengthen ties with America and bolster Japan's own defense capabilities," said Tsuneo Watanabe, a senior fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.
"But in that process, they will want to limit the economic damage as much as possible."
Abe, Japan's longest-serving premier, quit last year citing ill health as his dream of another term faded, but his successor and long-time lieutenant, Yoshidide Suga, inherited his stance.
However, Suga himself then had to bow out after his voter ratings tanked over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, triggering rare political uncertainty in a four-way ruling party race.
Abe did not overtly back Kishida at the start of the Liberal Democrtatic Party (LDP) leadership race, but endorsed his ultra-conservative protege Sanae Takaichi, who was aiming to become Japan's first female premier.
