January 22, 2013

Abe on Mission to Redeem Japan -- and Himself

Jeff Kingston, CNN

AP Photo

Abe is on a mission to reinvigorate the Japanese economy, win control of the upper house of the Diet (National Assembly) in summer elections and push through constitutional revision to remove constraints on Japan's military. Hounded from office in 2007 because of his poor political skills and failures to address voters' economic anxieties, Abe II seeks redemption and has hit the ground running. He has publicly pressured the Bank of Japan to adopt unlimited monetary easing and a 2% inflation target, unveiled a $117 billion fiscal stimulus package, sent his finance and foreign ministers on key diplomatic missions to Southeast Asia and Australia, and dispatched an envoy to South Korea to reach out to new President Park Gyeun-hye.

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TAGGED: Japan, Asia, Shinzo Abe

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