September 8, 2006

Japan's Abe pledges bold diplomacy, growth, reform

By Linda Sieg

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Shinzo Abe pledged on Friday to be bold in diplomacy and press on with economic reform as he formally launched his campaign to become the next prime minister -- a contest he appears to have won hands down already.

Abe said Japan was open to leaders' summits with China and South Korea, opening the door to an improvement in ties after five years of strained relations under outgoing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe gestures with a bouquet after announcing himself as a candidate in the upcoming election to become the next Japanese prime minister at a hotel in Tokyo September 8, 2006. (REUTERS/Kiyoshi Ota)

But the 51-year-old conservative cabinet minister made clear it was up to Beijing and Seoul to step forward.

Abe, in line to become Japan's first prime minister born after World War Two, has made revising the pacifist constitution a linchpin of his platform. The constitution was drafted by U.S. occupation authorities after Japan's 1945 defeat.

"From the standpoint of emerging from the 'post-war regime', I want to show leadership on a new constitution," he told reporters before registering to run in the Sept. 20 election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) next president.

"I want to develop an assertive diplomacy," he added.

Past Japanese leaders have been wary of showing leadership on the world stage, preferring to take their cue from Washington.

The new LDP president is all but assured the premiership by virtue of the party's grip on parliament, which is expected to choose a new prime minister on Sept. 26.

Two challengers, Foreign Minister Taro Aso, 66, and Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, 61, also registered their candidacies, despite overwhelming odds against them.

"BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY"

Abe, now serving as chief cabinet secretary, said leaders' summits were needed to resolve disputes with China and South Korea and that Japan's door was always open.

But he added: "China and South Korean must step forward."

Japan's ties with China and South Korea are frosty, largely because of Koizumi's annual visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which is seen by critics as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

In Beijing, Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan said Sino-Japanese ties were at a historic crossroads.

"Now, the key to resolving problems is a wise choice by future Japanese leaders so as to completely remove the political barriers that affect bilateral ties," the official Xinhua agency quoted Tang as saying in an apparent reference to shrine visits.

Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported on Friday that Abe was hoping to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Hanoi in November.

Abe has defended Koizumi's pilgrimages to Yasukuni and has gone there himself in the past, but he has not said whether he would visit again as prime minister.

Some 70 percent of LDP lawmakers have jumped on Abe's bandwagon and he is running well ahead among party rank-and-file as well, according to media surveys.

Sweet-toothed and softly spoken but known for his tough stance on the emotive issue of Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago, Abe also has a big lead in surveys asking voters who they prefer as next prime minister.

The party hopes the dapper Abe's popularity will help them in an upper house election next summer, but a poll issued on Friday showed he is more popular among LDP supporters than the broader public.

Seventy-four percent of party backers favoured Abe against 55 percent for voters generally, the Mainichi paper said.

Supporters concluded a lunchtime rally for Abe by joining him on stage and chanting "Beautiful country, Japan. A country we can be proud of. Let's work together for an Abe government."

(Additional reporting by Chisa Fujioka and George Nishiyama)

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