Abe Resigns

[JasonJ]

A bit uncanny timing but a recent item about the Abe visiting Taiwan topic.

Quote

 

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In a recent interview, former Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo expressed a desire to visit the final resting place of Taiwan's first popularly elected president, Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), "if conditions allow."

The Sankei Shimbun interviewed Abe on Wednesday (July 28) ahead of the first anniversary of Lee's death. The "father of democracy" passed away on July 30, 2020, at the age of 97. His death was met with condolences from international leaders friendly to Taiwan, including Abe, the Dalai Lama, and then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The day after Lee's passing, Abe expressed "profound sadness," saying the former president had made tremendous contributions to the amicable relationship between Taiwan and Japan.

During Wednesday's interview, Abe recalled his interactions with Lee since 1994, saying that no other leader in the world had cared for the well-being of Japan as much as Lee.

Japan's longest-serving prime minister then expressed his desire to visit Lee's grave "if conditions allow." He said he would take the state of the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration before planning the trip.

Lee was buried at a national cemetery for veterans and high-ranking officials on the outskirts of Taipei.

This is not the first time Abe has expressed his wish to visit Taiwan since leaving office. In late 2020, East Asia Parliamentary Friendship Association head Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) revealed that Abe was willing to fly to the country as soon as 2021, at the invitation of seven Taiwanese legislators belonging to various parties.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Wednesday expressed gratitude for Abe's amity toward Taiwan and its former president. In a statement, it welcomed Abe's visit and offered all necessary assistance to make the trip happen.

 

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4260403

[futon]

Abe was shot twice from behind in Nara. He was rushed to the hospital by helicopter.

[Stargrunt6]

Pronounced dead.

[sunday]

Perp used a home-made shotgun

Edited July 8, 2022 by sunday

[urbanoid]

The shooter is reportedly ex-JMSDF member, until 2005 or so.

[jmsaari]

4 hours ago, Stargrunt6 said:

Pronounced dead.

Seems to be mixed reports going around still if he's dead or in critical condition. Probably gets clearer in the coming hours.

[Stuart Galbraith]

He is critical according to CNN. Hope he makes it, he seems like a pretty nice guy.

[urbanoid]

5 minutes ago, jmsaari said:

Seems to be mixed reports going around still if he's dead or in critical condition. Probably gets clearer in the coming hours.

An hour ago or so they reported 'no vital signs'.

[BansheeOne]

What's this, a reenactment of the 1932 coup attempt played by exes? 😳

[TonyE]

Multiple japanese newssites confirm that he has died.

[KV7]

Looks like electronic ignition, possibly of black powder or similar in ~20mm steel pipe. The blast was very loud and produced a lot of smoke.

[Stuart Galbraith]

CNN confirms he died. Im really very saddened to hear this, he seemed an effective, very charismatic leader for Japan.

 

[urbanoid]

F

Edited July 8, 2022 by urbanoid

[Ivanhoe]

2 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

CNN confirms he died. Im really very saddened to hear this, he seemed an effective, very charismatic leader for Japan.

 

Yeah, a tragic end for sure. Abe always seemed to me to be the rarest of birds; he got Japan more active on the world stage, yet avoided getting into extreme positions or posturing.

Japan's measured response to COVID positions the Japanese economy to weather the burgeoning recession/stagflation better than most, I suspect a lot of that is due to Abe's work.

[futon]

It's looking like security screwed up big time by being too lax. The shooter was behind Abe the whole time with that grey t-shirt and the shot gun slung over his shoulder, looking like a typical man's small strap bag. But lots of tape and a handle should have drawn some attention? It doesn't look like it was hidden in some bigger bag to only be pulled out on short notice. The shooter didn't try to escape, as if already having accepted the fate of the consequences.

Some footage of him standing there, giving an applause during the speech for good effect, at 2:50. It's barely work safe I guess.

Abe wasn't perfect, certainly not liked by some here, there's going to a phase of conspiracy with this one as the apparant ease of the assassination is making some wonder if the effect of assassination was intended. Personally, I'm bothered by this as I've been following closely Japan's defense and international posturing for what 10 years now.. and that was a lot of Abe. Domestically some things I don't get fully, like some Moritomo scandal which doesn't seem like a big thing compared to the international scene and Abe's major role in it. But to some Japanese people, the domestic is naturally more tangible. At any rate, Abe's assassination is all over TV. 

[RETAC21]

21 minutes ago, futon said:

Personally, I'm bothered by this as I've been following closely Japan's defense and international posturing for what 10 years now.. and that was a lot of Abe. Domestically some things I don't get fully, like some Moritomo scandal which doesn't seem like a big thing compared to the international scene and Abe's major role in it. But to some Japanese people, the domestic is naturally more tangible. At any rate, Abe's assassination is all over TV. 

So what do you think the man's legacy overall is? 

[futon]

17 minutes ago, RETAC21 said:

So what do you think the man's legacy overall is? 

Basically what Ivanhoe said a couple of post up. Before Abe in 2012, Japan was changing prime ministers every year. Such an unstable leadership would be really bad in the following years. Japan's defense changes, enhancement of US-Japan defense relations and a relation with Trump probably unmatched by any of the other major powers traditional close to the US, expansion of defense relations with other countries like the Philippines and Australia, were all very important. Making these defense related changes while at the same time maintaining or improving relations with many countries is the key legacy point. Both were needed. It's no good if Japan had made the defense changes if it worsened its relations with many countries as a result. Of course, that's viewed as good from the position of keeping Taiwan safe, South China Sea open from PRC control, and just plain generally to not fall so behind PRC rising power, and defense/deterrance vs DPRK BMs. Some failures in this regard were submarine bid to Australia as Abe put a lot of effort into it. Not resolving the nothern territories while there was a possibility there. He put much effort into that one as well. Domestically also short such as still generally flat GDP, and still low birth rate.

[RETAC21]

1 minute ago, futon said:

Basically what Ivanhoe said a couple of post up. Before Abe in 2012, Japan was changing prime ministers every year. Such an unstable leadership would be really bad in the following years. Japan's defense changes, enhancement of US-Japan defense relations and a relation with Trump probably unmatched by any of the other major powers traditional close to the US, expansion of defense relations with other countries like the Philippines and Australia, were all very important. Making these defense related changes while at the same time maintaining or improving relations with many countries is the key legacy point. Both were needed. It's no good if Japan had made the defense changes if it worsened its relations with many countries as a result. Of course, that's viewed as good from the position of keeping Taiwan safe, South China Sea open from PRC control, and just plain generally to not fall so behind PRC rising power, and defense/deterrance vs DPRK BMs. Some failures in this regard were submarine bid to Australia as Abe put a lot of effort into it. Not resolving the nothern territories while there was a possibility there. He put much effort into that one as well. Domestically also short such as still generally flat GDP, and still low birth rate.

Thanks!

[rmgill]

3 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

Yeah, a tragic end for sure. Abe always seemed to me to be the rarest of birds; he got Japan more active on the world stage, yet avoided getting into extreme positions or posturing.

Japan's measured response to COVID positions the Japanese economy to weather the burgeoning recession/stagflation better than most, I suspect a lot of that is due to Abe's work.

Yeah. I'd say this is a great loss for Japan and it's allies. 

 

[Ivanhoe]

5 hours ago, futon said:

Abe wasn't perfect, certainly not liked by some here, there's going to a phase of conspiracy with this one as the apparant ease of the assassination is making some wonder if the effect of assassination was intended. Personally, I'm bothered by this as I've been following closely Japan's defense and international posturing for what 10 years now.. and that was a lot of Abe.

I wonder if the purpose of the assassination was not because of Abe's specific actions/accomplishments, but rather his style.

We're in a weird time, where a lot of folks seem to crave leaders such as Chavez, Maduro, etc. A steady professional does not provide much fodder for ideologues to leverage (recall how batshit the American left got when Trump completely failed to act like a fascist dictator).

 

[Stargrunt6]

Rumint:

 

Meanwhile in China:

 

[Stargrunt6]

In other news, NPR is the reason why we celebrate the death of radio:
 

 

[futon]

5 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

I wonder if the purpose of the assassination was not because of Abe's specific actions/accomplishments, but rather his style.

We're in a weird time, where a lot of folks seem to crave leaders such as Chavez, Maduro, etc. A steady professional does not provide much fodder for ideologues to leverage (recall how batshit the American left got when Trump completely failed to act like a fascist dictator).

 

ATM, the gunman's motive was that he had a grudge towards a religious group and Abe had connections with the group and so did as a way to strike at the group. IDK, need more details which will take time. Demand for confirmation bias is strong out there. 

[rmgill]

The 48 hour rule should be strongly adhered to on these sorts of things. 

[R011]

8 hours ago, Stargrunt6 said:

In other news, NPR is the reason why we celebrate the death of radio:
 

 

To be fair, NPR realized their error and changed "divisive arch-conservative' to "ultra-nationalist". 🙄