Source: Global Times
[Global Times Comprehensive Report] Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe html was suddenly shot and killed while delivering a speech in Nara on the 38th, which brought a huge impact to Japan and shocked the entire world. Throughout the day, news related to this scrolled across the major media. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had tears in his eyes, a solemn expression, and choked up several times when he delivered a speech on the matter that evening. Countries have also expressed condolences, condolences and condemned the assassination in different forms. "The assassination of Abe will be a permanent scar for Japan." Bloomberg of the United States said this not only because Abe is a pivotal figure in Japanese politics, but also because in Japan, which has strict gun control, such an incident casts a huge shadow on the social psychology. On the 10th, Japan will hold a Senate election. Abe’s assassination has left huge variables for the Liberal Democratic Party and even the entire Japanese political arena. Among them, what worries the outside world the most is whether Japan's right-wing forces will use this matter to make a big fuss and increase their efforts to promote a series of conservative trends such as constitutional amendments. Kyodo News Agency Editor-in-chief Toshiro Kobuchi wrote an article on the 8th, warning that in Japanese history, the assassination of Prime Minister Inukai Takeshi led to the collapse of pre-war party politics and the militarization of Japan. This shock to the world must not be allowed. The "Reiwa Political Terrorist Attack" has once again led this country into a dark age.
Fumio Kishida mourned with tears
The shooting occurred at around 11:30 local time. According to Kyodo News , NHK TV station and other Japanese media reports, Abe was giving a speech on the streets of the city at the time of the incident in order to canvass votes for the Liberal Democratic Party candidate in the Nara constituency. A minute or two after the speech started, a man approached Abe from behind and shot him 3 meters away. Two gunshots rang out, the crowd screamed, and Abe fell to the ground on his back seconds later, bleeding from his chest. After checking, he was shot in the chest and neck and was taken to the hospital by helicopter. At 5:03 pm local time on the 8th, the hospital announced that Abe's "gunshot wound touched the heart" and he died due to excessive blood loss and rescue efforts failed.
The video and photos of Abe's shooting shocked the whole of Japan. After the incident, people in Tokyo rushed to read the " Yomiuri Shimbun " bulletin, or stopped in the streets to watch the rolling reports on TV. In the evening, shock turned to sadness as mourners began laying flowers near the site of Abe's assassination in Nara. The British "Guardian" stated that this was the first time that Japan's current or former prime minister had been assassinated since World War II. The last time this happened was in 1932 when then-Japanese Prime Minister Takeshi Inukai was assassinated by a junior naval officer, and in 1936 when two former Japanese prime ministers were assassinated in a coup. Kyodo News said that Abe’s assassination cast a shadow on post-war Japanese history.
Japanese police arrested 41-year-old man Tetsuya Yamama on the spot on suspicion of attempted murder. He is reportedly a former member of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force. A gun suspected to have been used in the murder was found at the scene. According to Nara police sources, Tetsuya Yamama confessed that his motive for committing the crime was "not out of resentment towards Abe's political ideology", but just "being dissatisfied with him and wanting to kill him."
After the hospital announced Abe's death, Fumio Kishida gave a tearful speech at the official residence. He praised Abe's achievements and leadership and said he would inherit Abe's ideas. Regarding the assassination, Kishida said that "it will never be tolerated and condemned in the strongest language." After the shooting, senior leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party suspended their campaign activities and returned to Tokyo. A reporter from " Global Times " saw frequent traffic at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters on the afternoon of the 8th. Taro Aso and Yohei Kono appeared one after another with serious expressions and no words.
"Shocked, mourned, condemned", Indian Prime Minister Modi , French President Macron and other leaders of many countries have spoken out about Abe's assassination. Russian President Putin sent a message of condolence to Abe’s family on the 38th, and the Kremlin condemned the assassination in the strongest possible terms. U.S. President Biden expressed "anger and deep sorrow", saying that this is a tragedy for Japan and a tragedy for everyone who knows Abe. At the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Indonesia, this became an "issue" off the agenda. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno first expressed her deep condolences for Abe's unfortunate death at a press conference after the foreign ministers' meeting.Iran's Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling Abe's assassination an "act of terrorism."
"China is shocked by this unexpected incident." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that former Prime Minister Abe had made contributions to the improvement and development of Sino-Japanese relations. We express our condolences and condolences to the family of former Prime Minister Abe.
According to reports, Abe’s body will be transported to Tokyo on the 9th, and the funeral will be held on the 12th.
World public opinion has mixed comments
The 67-year-old Abe has occupied the Prime Minister's official residence twice, from 2006 to 2007 and from the end of 2012 to 2020. He is the prime minister who has been in power continuously and has the longest cumulative time in power in Japan's constitutional history. Lu Hao, deputy director of the Comprehensive Strategy Office of the Institute of Japan, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told a reporter from the Global Times on the 8th that the "Abe Era" that lasted for seven years and eight months had a profound impact on Japan's national development after the Cold War. During this period, the Japanese economy maintained growth for 71 consecutive months, marking the second period of economic prosperity after the war. However, although "Abenomics" has maintained a certain degree of prosperity, it has also overdrawn the space for Japan's fiscal and financial policies.
In September 2020, Abe resigned as prime minister early due to health problems. Since then, he has remained active in politics as a member of the House of Representatives. Bloomberg commented that Abe maintains huge influence in Japan. He leads the largest faction of the Liberal Democratic Party and is still at the peak of his political life. Many speculate that Abe may once again vie for prime minister. Even if he doesn't act personally, he will be influential in deciding who will be the next prime minister.
During his administration, Abe pushed Sino-Japanese relations back on track. However, after his resignation, his attitude toward China regressed significantly. Especially during a video call with Tsai Ing-wen, he falsely claimed that "something happened in the Taiwan Strait" meant "something happened in Japan." The Associated Press said that Abe’s supporters believe that his legacy is a stronger U.S.-Japan relationship, which will help enhance Japan’s defense capabilities. But Abe's ultra-nationalism has angered South Korea, North Korea and China, and his push for what he sees as a "more normal" defense posture has dissatisfied many Japanese. Because of a lack of public support, Abe failed to achieve his goal of amending the constitution.
Right-wing forces should be wary
Experts on Japan interviewed by a reporter from the Global Times believe that right-wing forces may make a big fuss out of this incident and intensify the overall conservative trend in Japanese politics. Lu Yaodong, director of the Foreign Relations Research Office of the Institute of Japan, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that as a representative of Japan's conservative forces, Abe's assassination may stimulate Japan's right-wing forces to a certain extent. Although the political leanings of the assassin are still unclear, an almost certain fact is that Abe’s assassination will not stop the overall conservative trend in Japanese politics, but may intensify it to a certain extent.
"Abe's trip to Nara this time is to promote the Liberal Democratic Party's constitutional amendment program," Lu Yaodong said. Abe's successor may use the tragic banner of "inheriting Abe's legacy" to speed up the constitutional amendment process and continue to promote "freedom and openness" "Indo-Pacific" and "active participation in the quadrilateral mechanism" policies, and accelerating NATO's entry into the Asia-Pacific, which will bring more security risks to the geopolitics of Northeast Asia .
Japan will hold a Senate election on the 10th. Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications stated on the 8th that there are no plans to postpone or reschedule. Da Zhigang, director of the Northeast Asian Institute of the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, told a reporter from the Global Times that Abe's assassination may become a "symbol" that will allow the conservative forces represented by the Liberal Democratic Party to gain more sympathy votes from the Japanese people.
French "Le Figaro" stated that because the incident happened so suddenly, Abe did not have a designated political heir, which left huge variables in Japanese politics. A big suspense, Tajig said, is who will take over the largest faction of Japan's largest political party. At present, it seems that the current Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Koichi Hagiuda and the former Minister of Economic Regeneration Nishimura Yasunari are more competitive, and the possibility of Abe's younger brother and Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi cannot be ruled out. There are many members of the "Abe faction", but it is not easy to find a suitable candidate to inherit Abe's mantle. The "Abe faction" may also fall apart in the future.
Lu Hao believes that Abe’s death will obviously have a series of chain impacts on Japanese politics, but at present it seems that there is no possibility of directly changing Japan’s national trajectory or even the regional situation. Wang Jian, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who holds the same view, told the Global Times reporter that Fumio Kishida already has a relatively mature foreign policy and plan for China. From a governance perspective, without the political fetters and constraints from Abe, it will be more beneficial to Kishida's governance.
Japan may be "changed forever"
The shooting of Abe particularly shocked Japan because it happened in a country with strict gun control. " Wall Street Journal " said that gun attacks against politicians are very rare in Japan. The most recent shooting incident of a famous politician occurred in 2007, when the mayor of Nagasaki was shot dead by a Japanese gangster.
" The Washington Post " commented that Japan prides itself on being a safe society. Nearly 30 years later, the impact of the sarin gas attack launched by Aum Shinrikyo on the Tokyo subway is still echoing today. Precisely because such events are rare. Kobuchi Toshiro said that some people believe that on social networking sites, the phenomenon of excluding other people's opinions is increasing, and society is gradually losing its tolerance for listening to different opinions. If this crime stemmed from this kind of social atmosphere, it would be even more worrying.
"It's not only rare, it's culturally incomprehensible," Nancy Snow, head of Japan for the International Council on Security Industry, told CNN that Japan has always been an "oasis" and it's impossible to imagine a gun culture like the United States. "I collapsed when I thought about the psychological impact this would have on a nation that does not resort to such violence." She believes Friday's shooting will unfortunately "change Japan forever."
[Global Times special correspondents in Japan and France Yue Linwei Dong Ming Global Times reporters Bai Yunyi Xing Xiaojing Zhao Juejue Chen Xin Liu Yupeng]
