TOKYO - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has once again vowed to shake off
the legacy of World War II defeat to create a "new national identity" as he is
trying to revive sagging public support.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers his speech at the
opening regular parliament session of the House of Representatives in
Tokyo. Abe has once again vowed to shake off the legacy of World War II
defeat to create a "new national identity" as he is trying to revive
sagging public support. [AFP]
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Abe renewed promises to rewrite
the US-imposed pacifist constitution and bring patriotism into the schools, a
taboo since World War II, although he also said he would work to repair ties
with neighboring China and South Korea.
The conservative premier outlined his policy proposals in an address to a new
session of parliament as he faces growing questions over his leadership.
"It's time to embark on a bold review of the postwar regime," said Abe,
Japan's first premier born after the war.
"It is my mission to draw up a new national identity that can survive severe
storms over the next 50 or 100 years," he said.
He pledged to pass a bill on a national referendum - the first step in
revising the constitution - during the parliament session, which will end in
June.
He also said that reforming the education system was the
cabinet's top priority.
"Haven't we ignored such values as self-reliance, public responsibility,
morality and love of the country? For the future of Japan, it is extremely
important to teach children about these values."
Abe, who took over in September, has already pushed through conservative
reforms including creating a full-fledged defense ministry for the first time
since World War II.
But a poll this week put his approval rating below 40
percent, compared with 70 percent after he took over from the popular Junichiro
Koizumi.
Abe has faced the resignation of two top aides and welcomed back into the
fold opponents of Koizumi's reform agenda, leading to accusations that the
52-year-old premier is under the thumb of older powerbrokers.
Abe pointed in his speech to his success in improving ties with China and
South Korea, which refused to talk to Koizumi due to his annual visits to a
controversial Tokyo war shrine.
Despite his reputation as a hardliner, Abe visited Beijing and Seoul
immediately after taking office. Beijing announced Thursday that Premier Wen
Jiabao would pay a return visit to Tokyo in April, the first trip here by a
Chinese leader since 2000.
"We have improved relations by holding heart-to-heart talks with the leaders
of the two countries," Abe said.
"We will forge strategic reciprocal relations with China for the benefit of
the two countries," he said. "We will also build close, forward-looking ties
with South Korea."
But Abe, who built his career talking tough on North Korea, renewed his
criticism of Pyongyang, which tested its first atom bomb days into his
premiership.
"Our country will never tolerate North Korea's nuclear weapons development,"
Abe said.