Abe vows to create a prouder, new Japan
Shinzo Abe, Japan’s new prime minister, on Friday promised to create a “new Japan” that was more assertive abroad and more proud of its traditions at home.
In his first policy address since becoming prime minister, Mr Abe, 52, told a joint session of parliament his administration would make education more patriotic, diplomacy more robust and act to rewrite a constitution “drafted almost 60 years ago when Japan was under occupation”.
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He said his administration, packed with like-minded social conservatives, would try to instil greater pride and patriotism, which he argues has been stifled by an exaggerated sense of guilt following defeat in the war.
“The time has come for us to step forward, with quiet pride in our hearts, to create a new country,” he said. “I want to undertake reform of awareness so society as a whole shares family values.”
Mr Abe, the first prime minister born since the end of the war, is attempting to set a different tone from the administration of Junichiro Koizumi, which came to power in 2001 at a time of economic crisis. Mr Abe argues that, with the economy returned to a modicum of health, it is time to address issues postponed throughout the postwar period when Japan was primarily concerned with generating fast economic growth.
He said he would seek to strengthen the prime minister’s office, a process begun by Mr Koizumi, as a way of neutralising what he often considered the dead hand of the bureaucracy. Mr Abe has handpicked more advisers to work in his office than is customary, with some of the top appointments aimed at establishing a US-style national security council.
Mr Abe did not spend much time in his speech addressing how to improve strained relations with China and South Korea, aside from saying he would work for “future-oriented discussions”, a phrase often employed by his predecessor.
His administration is pushing hard for early summit meetings with China and South Korea. Government officials said yesterday an early meeting with Roh Moo Hyun, South Korea’s leader, was possible following a positive telephone conversation between the two leaders the previous day.
On the economy, Mr Abe said he would put more emphasis on cutting expenditure than on raising taxes and pledged to keep government borrowing below Y30,000bn (￡135bn). However, he would not “run away” from tax increases. He would push to revive local economies, some of which are not experiencing the near-boom conditions of big cities such as Tokyo and Nagoya, and ensure that those left behind had a “second chance.”
In an interview with the Financial Times, Akira Am-ari, trade and industry minister, played down suggestions that Mr Abe’s revitalisation plan would be expensive or lead to more government interference.
“What we are aiming at is equality of opportunity in all stages of life and in all places. Since we have a free market economy we are obviously not aiming at equality of results. It is obvious that there will be disparities of outcome.”
安倍晋三承诺“让日本更自信”
日本新任首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)昨日承诺将建设一个“新日本”，它将在对外事务上更为自信，而在国内方面更以其传统自豪。
现年52岁的安倍晋三在出任首相后的首次施政演说中向国会全体会议表示，他的政府将增加教育中的爱国主义色彩，增强外交中的活力，并着手修订“近60年前起草的宪法，当时日本还处于被占领状态。”
他表示，由观点接近的社会保守派人士组成的这届政府，将努力灌输更多的自豪感与爱国主义精神。他辩称，由于战败后出现的那种过度的负罪感，这些精神一直受到了压抑。
“现在该是我们向前进的时候了，心中充满平静的自豪感，去创建一个新的国家”，他表示。“我打算进行思想意识方面的改革，让家庭观念深入整个社会。”
作为首位战后出生的首相，安倍晋三试图定下一种与小泉纯一郎(Junichiro Koizumi)政府不同的调子，小泉是在2001年经济危机之际出任首相的。安倍晋三表示，随着经济出现少许的复苏，目前已经到了解决整个战后时期一直拖延下来的一些问题的时候。二战结束以来，日本主要在关注如何实现经济增长的问题。
他表示，将寻求加强首相府的作用，这一进程始自小泉，以对付僵硬的官僚体制。安倍晋三挑选了比通常更多的顾问人士就职于首相府，其中一些高级职位旨在建立一种美国式的国家安全委员会。
在施政演说中，安倍晋三没有花很多时间谈论如何改善与中韩两国之间紧张关系的问题，只是表示，自己将致力于“面向未来的对话”，这是他的前任经常用到的说法。
安倍政府将努力推动尽早与中韩两国进行首脑会晤，政府官员昨日表示，在日韩两国领导人前一天进行了积极的电话会谈之后，安倍晋三有可能先与韩国领导人卢武铉(Roh Moo Hyun)进行会谈。
谈到经济方面，安倍晋三表示，他将更多的关注削减支出，而不是提高税收，他同时保证，将把政府预算控制在30万亿日元（合2540亿美元）之下。
日本经济产业大臣甘利明(Akira Amari)在接受英国《金融时报》采访时，有意淡化外界的一些说法，即安倍晋三的复兴计划将成本高昂，或导致政府干预经济。
