New | Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vows to build 'a new Japan', keep up defences
Prime minister also pledges to defend the nation and reform the economy
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has issued an assertive call for “building a new Japan” in his new year’s message, vowing to defend territory disputed with China and reform the country’s struggling economy.
“We will fully defend the lives and assets of our nationals as well as our territory, territorial waters, and territorial airspace in a resolute manner,” he said.
Abe suggested, however, that Japan’s pacifist constitution, imposed on the country after the Second World War, should be amended.
“I believe that now we should deepen our national discussions further, with a view to introducing amendments that incorporate various changes in the times,” he wrote.
In a separate New Year comment published in the conservative daily Sankei Shimbun on Wednesday, Abe said he expected the constitution to be revised by 2020, when Tokyo is scheduled to host the Summer Olympics.
Last week, Abe’s administration announced an increase in spending for Japan’s coast guard and the establishment of an amphibious assault unit to deter attacks on the disputed island chain.
On December 26, relations between China and Japan soured further with Abe’s surprise visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo, which honours Japan’s war dead. It was the first visit by a sitting Japanese Premier to the shrine since his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi's visit in 2006.
In his new year’s message, Abe compared the economic reform challenges Japan faces with those of the reconstruction period after the Second World War.
Quoting from a saying by the ancient Chinese philosopher Guan Zhong, he pledged “true reforms” and to “convey a tangible feeling of economic recovery without fail to every corner of the country”.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye incidentally used the same Chinese quote - "when planning for a lifetime, there is nothing better than cultivating people" - in a speech during her visit to China in June.
Abe’s policy of increased monetary easing and fiscal spending is facing an uphill battle as annualized economic growth for the third quarter had to be revised from 1.9 per cent down to 1.1 per cent in December.
Forty-one economists surveyed by the Nikkei Shinbun expected Japan’s economy to grow by 1.4 per cent next year.
Agence France-Presse, Reuters