安倍晋三宣誓就职

New Japanese PM opts for fresh faces in cabinet

Shinzo Abe, Japan's new prime minister, named a cabinet of mainly like-minded conservatives yesterday. The line-up reflects the priorities of his ruling Liberal Democratic party as well as his own desire to surround himself with ideological friends.

Analysts said the cabinet of Mr Abe, who was sworn in by parliament yesterday, reflected an independent streak, though not as much as his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi, who revelled in ignoring party protocol and bringing in outsiders.


ADVERTISEMENT
Mr Abe named 11 freshmen to his cabinet, signalling a generational shift. At 52, he is the first prime minister born since the war and the youngest in 65 years.

Youngsters - by Japanese standards - in the cabinet and among senior party officials include Yasuhisa Shiozaki, 55, chief cabinet secretary, Shoichi Nakagawa, 53, LDP policy chief, and Nobuteru Ishihara, 49, deputy secretary-general.

Mr Nakagawa, in particular, is considered close to Mr Abe, sharing views that Japan needs to defend its national interest more vigorously, rewrite its US-written pacifist constitution and make education more patriotic.

Mr Shiozaki, another close friend, will also have special responsibility for people kidnapped by North Korea, an emotive issue that helped propel Mr Abe to the top slot.

On the economy, Mr Abe balanced youth with experience, nominating Koji Omi, 73, a former trade ministry bureaucrat, as finance minister. Mr Omi, who rallied older parliamentarian support for Mr Abe, will be expected to seek spending cuts in line with the premier's pledge to trim bureaucratic fat before considering tax increases.

Kaoru Yosano, the economy and financial services minister tipped for a top cabinet post, was passed over, possibly because his reputation as a fiscal hawk conflicted with Mr Abe's emphasis on promoting growth, analysts said.

Takao Toshikawa, a political commentator, said the cabinet was largely in Mr Abe's image and not unduly influenced by LDP backroom dealing - the way cabinets were formed before Mr Koizumi. It was stacked with people who might be seen as "neo-cons or rightwingers", Mr Toshikawa said, but he stressed that Mr Abe's conviction politics were tempered by a strong streak of pragmatism.

The new prime minister, for example, had sent strong signals to China about getting relations back on track. No summits between the leaders of Asia's two biggest economies took place during Mr Koizumi's 5? year tenure, largely over the issue of Mr Koizumi's visits to a controversial war memorial.

As foreign minister Mr Abe stuck with Taro Aso, the incumbent, who ran against him for the premiership. Mr Aso is considered a hawk not obviously suited to the role of improving relations with China, but he has emphasised his willingness to meet Chinese leaders without conditions.

Mr Aso has also floated what he says are long-term solutions to the diplomatic controversy over the Yasukuni shrine.
安倍晋三宣誓就职

日本新任首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)昨日组建了新内阁，其成员多为观点相似的保守派人士。内阁阵容既反映出执政的自民党(Liberal Democratic party)的优先考虑，也反映出安倍与志同道合的朋友共事的渴望。

分析人士表示，安倍内阁反映出一种独立的特质，尽管尚不及前任首相小泉纯一郎(Junichiro Koizumi)那样强烈。小泉酷爱无视党内协议，起用外部人士。安倍昨日在议会宣誓就职。

安倍为其内阁任命了11名新人，标志着日本政坛的更新换代。现年52岁的安倍是日本首位二战后出生的首相，也是65年来最年轻的一位。


按照日本标准，内阁和党内高官中的年轻人包括55岁的内阁官房长官盐崎恭久(Yasuhisa Shiozaki)，53岁的自民党政调会长中川昭一(Shoichi Nakagawa)，以及49岁的干事长代理石原伸晃(Nobuteru Ishihara)。

尤其是中川昭一。外界认为他与安倍关系密切，二人在许多方面观点相同，例如：日本需要更积极地捍卫国家利益，改写美国拟定的日本和平宪法，加强爱国主义教育。

在经济方面，安倍对年龄与经验进行了平衡，任命前贸易官员尾身幸次(Koji Omi)为财务大臣。尾身幸次曾联合年长的议员对安倍表示支持。预计他将首先按照首相的“政府瘦身”承诺，削减政府开支，然后再考虑增税。

政治评论家Takao Toshikawa强调称，大量的实用主义内容调和了安倍政治立场的坚定性。

例如，这位新任首相已向中国发出强烈信号，希望两国关系重回正轨。

至于外务大臣一职，安倍留给了曾与他角逐首相职位的现任外相麻生太郎(Taro Aso)。麻生太郎被视为鹰派人物，表面看似乎并不很适合扮演改善日中关系的角色，但他强调，自己愿意在无条件的前提下与中国领导人会晤。

麻生太郎还推出了靖国神社(Yasukuni Shrine)外交争端的所谓长期解决方案。

Abe's Cabinet Picks Indicate a Steady Course

New Prime Minister
Vows to Concentrate
On Economy, China

TOKYO -- Shinzo Abe was elected prime minister of Japan yesterday and announced a cabinet lineup that indicated he would follow many of the policies of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi.

Mr. Koizumi's five years in power were defined by moves to reduce the size of the government -- through spending cuts and privatization programs -- and to give Japan a more-assertive foreign policy. Yesterday, Mr. Abe pledged to speed up these fiscal overhauls to keep the country's economic recovery on track, and to improve ties with China.

WALL STREET JOURNAL VIDEO



Eurasia Group's Ross Schaap explains the economic issues facing Japan's youngest prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who was elected Tuesday.The new prime minister appointed some old hands for foreign and defense posts, but he made some unexpected choices for important economic positions. The economy minister will be Hiroko Ota, who sat on the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy during Mr. Koizumi's term, when the committee decided major economic policies. She also has close ties to Heizo Takanaka, who was the architect of Mr. Koizumi's economic policies but is leaving politics.

Mr. Abe's finance minister will be Koji Omi, 73 years old, a long-serving politician who has held various economic jobs in the government in the past, though not for several years. As economy-planning minister in 1997, Mr. Omi wrongly predicted that Japan's economy would recover "around the time cherry blossoms bloom" in the spring. Japan's economy continued to deteriorate for years.

"Most of these names will be unknown to a foreign audience," wrote Richard Jerram, an economist for Macquarie Securities, in a report. He speculated that the appointments could indicate that economic policies "will not be an important focus for the new administration."


Mr. Abe reappointed Taro Aso as foreign minister. Mr. Aso, who was one of Mr. Abe's contenders for the premiership, will assist the new prime minister as he strives to repair relations with China and South Korea. These ties soured under Mr. Koizumi's rule partly because he paid annual visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni war shrine, which honors war criminals as wells as conscripted soldiers.

Mr. Abe is a supporter of the shrine and has paid his respects there in the past, but he hasn't said whether he will visit as prime minister.

Mr. Aso, who also has visited Yasukuni in the past, has suggested bringing the shrine under government control, a move that might help defuse the controversy surrounding it.

Mr. Abe is also an advocate of close military ties with the U.S. and a bigger military role for Japan -- both policies that Mr. Koizumi promoted. Fumio Kyuma, who served as defense minister from 1996 and 1998, was appointed to that post for a second time.

Mr. Abe had been voted leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party last week, and yesterday, both houses of Parliament elected him prime minister. At 52, Mr. Abe is set to be the nation's youngest prime minister since World War II.

After being voted LDP president last week, he pledged to continue with Mr. Koizumi's economic policies of reining in public spending while generating higher tax revenues through strong economic growth.

Yesterday, Mr. Abe took the symbolic step of cutting his own pay by 30% to help trim the budget.
安倍晋三或将沿袭小泉政策路线

安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)周二当选新一任日本首相，并宣布了内阁成员名单。从内阁成员的构成看，他可能会延续其前任小泉纯一郎(Junichiro Koizumi)的多项政策。

在小泉纯一郎的5年任期内，他一直致力于通过削减开支和私有化计划来压缩政府部门规模，同时在外交政策上采取了较为强硬的政策。安倍晋三周二也承诺要加快这些财政改革，保持经济复苏的步伐，同时还要改善与中国的关系。

相关报导

? 安倍晋三当选日本自民党总裁
? 小泉即将卸任 安倍重任在肩
安倍晋三在外交和国防职位上任用了一些老面孔，但在某些重要的经济职位上，安倍晋三的选择让人有些意外。财政金融大臣将由大田弘子(Hiroko Ota)出任，她在小泉任期内曾在负责制定主要经济政策经济和财政政策委员会(Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy)担任委员。大田弘子与小泉的经济政策设计师竹中平藏(Heizo Takenaka)关系密切，但后者已经离开了政坛。

安倍晋三内阁的财务大臣锁定为现年73岁的尾身幸次(Koji Omi)，他是日本政坛元老，曾在政府各类经济部门任职，但他最近几年的任职经历与经济无关。1997年时任经济企划厅长官的尾身幸次错误地估计了日本的经济形势，认为日本经济将会在春季“樱花盛开的时节”实现复苏。然而，实际情况却是日本经济不断恶化，此后数年一蹶不振。

Macquarie Securities经济学家理查德?热朗(Richard Jerram)在一份报告中称，“对外国人来说，内阁名单中的许多人都很陌生。”他认为，从此次内阁成员任命可以看出，经济政策“将不会是新一届政府的关注重点。”

安倍晋三任命曾与他角逐首相一职的麻生太郎(Taro Aso)继续担任外务大臣、帮助他修复日本与韩国、中国的关系。在小泉纯一郎执政期间，由于小泉每年都去参拜供奉日本战犯的靖国神社，日韩和日中关系不断恶化。

安倍晋三是靖国神社的支持者，过去也曾参拜过靖国神社，但他没有表示以后是否会以首相的身份前往参拜。

麻生太郎曾建议将靖国神社置于政府的控制之下，这可能有助于缓解围绕靖国神社问题的种种矛盾。

安倍晋三也是日美军事同盟的支持者，并主张扩大日本在军事领域的地位，而这些也正是小泉纯一郎所奉行的政策。曾在1996年至1998年期间担任防卫厅长官的久间章生(Fumio Kyuma)将再次出任这一职务。

上周安倍晋三被推选为执政的自民党总裁，并在周二参众两院的表决中当选日本首相，成为二战后日本最年轻的首相。

在上周当选自民党总裁后，安倍晋三承诺要继续执行小泉的经济政策，控制公共开支，同时通过实现经济的强劲增长来获得更多的税收收入。

周二，安倍晋三还象征性地将自己的薪水削减30%，以减少政府的预算支出。

Yuka Hayashi