The geopolitical legacy of the Japanese ex-PM will be remembered
The assassination of the former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has sent shock waves not only across Japan but throughout the world, given the peaceful nature of Japan and its citizens. He was the grandson of the former PM Kishi Nobusuke and entered politics in 1982. Abe became a member of parliament in 1993 and was appointed to the post of deputy cabinet secretary in 2000.
Abe specialised in security politics; he was a champion of defence policy reforms. His views on the Korean abductions of Japanese citizens and China's increasing militarisation, apart from his frequent visits to the Yasukuni shrine, made him recognised as a nationalist. He had demanded constitutional revisions, especially to Article 9 of the Constitution, and strengthening of Japan's military capabilities.
His 2006 political manifesto Utsukushii Kuni e (Towards a Beautiful Country), republished in 2013 as Atarashii Kuni e (Towards a New Country), earned him the reputation of a nationalist. In 2006, he succeeded Koizumi as PM and focussed on essential reforms such as the referendum on constitutional revisions and Japan's law of education.
In 2007, Abe had the foresight to envision a hostile China. He strategically crafted the elevation of the Japan Defense Agency to a full-fledged Ministry of Defense. This was followed by an exclusive budget for a missile defence programme, apart from the development of satellite surveillance capabilities.
He had also spoken in favour of the possibilities of Japan developing pre-emptive strike capabilities and hence 'normalisation'. Unfortunately, with controversies surrounding his first tenure, he was defeated in the 2007 upper house elections and resigned. Finally, his party was defeated in the 2009 lower house elections.
In 2013, in his speech ‘Japan is Back’ at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) where he outlined his security reform agenda to normalise Japan and put his country's role as a "rule promoter." This is releveant today as Nato and the West aim for a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.
Under him, two essential developments made Japan closer to a 'normal nation'. First, the passing of the Specially Designated Secrets Act by Diet (parliament) that mandated strict punishments for unauthorised disclosure of national security secrets. Second, the formulation of the National Security Strategy that replaced the 1957 defence policy. The founding principle of the National Security Strategy called for a free and stable international order and promoted "proactive pacifism".
Regarding arms trade, in 2014, Abe oversaw the adoption of the new 'Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology' that permitted Tokyo to sell arms to those threatened by others, especially countries like India.
In 2016, the Japanese government passed the Legislation for Peace and Security and adopted that the country can use force in a crisis triggered by an armed attack against a close foreign country. This implied that if Japan's partner countries came under attack, it could retaliate using force. Thus, Abe accepted the role of 'proactive contributor to peace' and took measures to enhance the Japan-US security alliance. It also silenced the US critics who termed Japan a 'free rider state'.
Abe would be remembered by Indians for his role in forging close strategic ties between India and Japan. In 2007, he visited India and, in his speech in parliament, without naming China, focused on the factors that could bring India and Japan closer to each other. He stressed the ideas of an "arc of freedom and prosperity" in the "outer ring of the Eurasian continent" and the shaping of a "broader Asia" through the "confluence of the two seas"—the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The idea finally culminated in 2019 into the present-day Quad.
Abe’s visit was the first by a Japanese PM in 41 years.