Page 2 - Under Abe News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

“Japan must work to defend itself, and must maintain the power needed to prevent war from breaking out in the first place” ー Former PM Shinzo Abe.

Over a year since his resignation, Abe’s “power is substantial,” as is his legacy.

Even from retirement, former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo continues to cast a long shadow over Japan’s foreign policy.

17 February 2021 Author: Yuki Tatsumi, Stimson Center Japan’s 2021 defence budget is set to be its largest ever, continuing a near decade-long trend set in motion by former prime minister Shinzo Abe. Under Abe’s watch, Japan has increased its defence budget every year since 2005. The uptick in spending has continued since Abe left office in September 2020 — last December, the Ministry of Defense released its revised budget request for the 2021 fiscal year totalling approximately 5.3 trillion yen (US$50.2 billion). This upward trend has at times been sensationalised as a return to milita...

Toggle open close Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga assumed the mantle of Japanese prime minister amidst growing regional security threats, continuing COVID-19 effects on public health and the economy, a critical financial situation, and lingering structural economic problems. Given the extent of these challenges, one wonders whether to offer Suga condolences rather than congratulations. Suga’s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, implemented a visionary foreign policy, strengthened Japan’s alliance with the United States, and undertook an increasingly firm security stance against Chinese and No...