Shinzo Abe: The Builder of Japan's New Right-Wing Politics

This article was published in "Three Policy Think Tank" on August 31:

http://www.senstrat.com/Article/s700.html

On August 28, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had been in power for nearly eight years, announced that he would resign as Prime Minister. As soon as the news came out, the Japanese political scene was shaken, and it also attracted widespread attention from the international community. This is not only because Abe is Japan's longest-serving and longest-serving prime minister, but also because of his political philosophy, domestic and foreign policies, which have shaped the new form of Japan's political, economic and culture in the new century, and will continue to influence after his resignation. The development direction of Japan and the rise and fall of national fortune.

Shinzo Abe came from a Japanese political family. His grandfather was the former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, who was known as the "Demon of the Showa" and set the tone for Japan's post-war development. His father also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs when Yasuhiro Sone, a right-wing politician, was the prime minister. And he entered the core layer of Japanese politics during the period when Junichiro Koizumi was in power. Abe is obviously deeply influenced by the above-mentioned politicians with conservative political views and tough foreign policies. He is also active in Japanese politics and the international arena with his distinct right-wing political views.

In Japan, the "right-wing" has a special political meaning. It not only represents the right-wing ideology whose political views tend to be common internationally, but also involves attitudes and actions on issues related to the history and reality of Japanese militarism. To put it simply, the Japanese right wing generally downplays or even denies Japan's crimes in World War II, beautifies the history of Japan's invasion of China and other foreign aggression, opposes the pacifist constitution, advocates the lifting of various restrictions on the development of military power, and tries to become a world political and military power again. Go pro-US and anti-China (or at least be tough on China in terms of historical and real interests).

And Shinzo Abe is such a right-wing politician. Since he served as secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party in the era of Junichiro Koizumi, he has entered the field of view of Japanese nationals and international observers as a new right-wing political star in Japan. The so-called "new right wing" is different from the traditional Japanese right wing that was opposed to liberal democracy in the Showa era and spared no effort to build up its armaments at the expense of the people's livelihood. The political status of the world and participation in international hegemony, redefine the role of Japan in history, especially in World War II, challenge the "Yalta system" that is the post-war political order, and restore Japan's "brilliance" in East Asia and the world before World War II.

If the era of Yasuhiro Nakasone was the origin of the rise of the new right in Japan, and Junichiro Koizumi officially opened the practice of new right politics in the new century, then Abe, as the builder of the new right, introduced Japan into a path that is almost impossible to turn back. , a development path dominated by the New Right.

The Yasukuni Shrine issue is a major dispute between China, Japan and South Korea and Japan's history and reality. It is also a test paper for identifying the ideology held by Japanese politicians. In late 2013, one year into his second term as prime minister, Shinzo Abe publicly visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which houses the Class A war criminals of World War II, in his capacity as prime minister (and not in a private capacity). This was unanimously condemned by China and South Korea, but was cheered by the Japanese right wing. The aforementioned Nakasone and Koizumi both visited the Yasukuni Shrine. Shinzo Abe's visit was also intended to emphasize his political stance and win the support of right-wing conservatives. In the following years, although Abe did not visit the shrine again, he made offerings to the Yasukuni Shrine many times.

On historical issues, Abe actively supports the revision of history textbooks to beautify the history of World War II, especially the aggression against China; refused to apologize and compensate China and South Korea on the issue of "comfort women"; tried to revise the "Murayama Talk" that acknowledged Japan's guilt in aggression against China, etc. In terms of territorial disputes, it has taken a tough stance on the territorial disputes with China's Diaoyu Islands (called "Senkaku Islands" in Japan) and South Korea's Dokdo (called "Takeshima" in Japan), and has continuously affirmed its commitment to the "four northern islands" (Russia known as the "Southern Kuril Islands"). On the military front, the Abe cabinet and the Liberal Democratic Party-controlled parliament abolished the "Three Principles of Arms Exports" restricting Japan's armaments in 2014; revised the Security Act to lift the "right of collective self-defense"; expanded armaments, developed "quasi-aircraft carriers" and new tanks, Bulk purchases of advanced American fighter jets. In terms of diplomacy, actively strive to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, strengthen the alliance between the United States and Japan, strengthen cooperative relations with Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries, and build a circle of encirclement against China. It is worth mentioning that most of Abe's above actions were carried out quietly in a low-key way.

At the same time, Abe has made impressive achievements in economic and bureaucratic consolidation. "Abenomics", which uses quantitative easing as the main means to stimulate the economy, has miraculously improved Japan's long-term economic downturn since the 1990s. In terms of rectifying bureaucracy, we have cracked down on "airborne mediation" and other interest-transporting behaviors under the collusion of officials and businessmen, attacked the community of civil servants' interests, and strengthened the prime minister's control over the bureaucracy. In addition, Abe, who is on the right, has not hesitated to promote the increase of welfare for the disadvantaged, in order to win wider support and more diverse votes.

This series of actions established Shinzo Abe as the builder of Japan's new right wing. He took advantage of his achievements in improving people's livelihood and rectifying official governance to stabilize his approval rate, which is conducive to promoting his controversial political, military and diplomatic goals. His strategy was indeed successful. During Abe's eight years as prime minister, his approval rating has mostly stabilized above 40%, which is a great success compared to his previous prime ministers' approval ratings of just over ten percentage points or even single digits. He also broke the "short-lived" curse of the Japanese prime minister since the 1990s, and set a historical record with a consecutive tenure of nearly eight years. His Liberal Democratic Party won more than three-fifths of seats in both the 2014 and 2017 parliamentary elections. This also created good conditions for him to display his political ambitions and build a new right-wing system.

In all fairness, Abe has made great achievements in boosting the economy, safeguarding people's livelihood, fighting corruption and protecting integrity, rectifying factions, and safeguarding Japan's interests externally, and he is an excellent politician. But his achievements are only paving the way for his new right-wing political goals. This is not only harmful to the interests of China and South Korea and other countries that have suffered from Japanese aggression, hurts the feelings of the nationals of the victimized countries, and undermines the post-war peace order in the Asia-Pacific region. .

Abe's greatest political wish, that is, to revise Japan's "peaceful constitution" after World War II, is only "on the doorstep". Now the Liberal Democratic Party and the Alliance Party have held two-thirds of the seats needed to amend the constitution, and only some details remain to be discussed. If the constitution is amended, Japan will achieve a complete "lifting of the ban" militarily and politically, and the legal barrier to prevent the resurrection of Japanese militarism after the end of World War II will no longer exist.

Shinzo Abe resigned without completing the constitutional amendment during his term of office. In addition to what he said was "ulcerative enteritis", it was also related to his involvement in the two scandals of "Moriyou Gakuen" and "Kage Gakuen" suspected of transferring benefits. Recently, Abe's approval rating has been on a downward trend. Therefore, he decided to "let it go" and announced his resignation after just surpassing his great-uncle Eisaku Sato to become Japan's longest-serving prime minister.

Abe knows that even if he no longer serves as prime minister, the new right-wing political concept he constructed and the national system dominated by this concept have been deeply rooted in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Japanese politics and even the entire country, and will not fundamentally change due to the change of the prime minister. . Abe's eight years in power have changed the direction of Japan and reshaped the pattern of international relations in the Asia-Pacific.