International media paid keen attention to Japan’s ruling parties’ victory in the House of Councillors election, many of them reporting this in newsflashes.
In light of the Japanese ruling bloc’s victory, the Obama administration plans to continue to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance based on the security laws authorizing Japan’s limited exercise of the right to collective self-defense. It is considering deepening cooperation between the U.S. forces and the Self-Defense Forces to deal with China’s aggressive advances in the East and South China Sea.
The online version of The Wall Street Journal wrote on July 10 that “Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will probably push for his economic and security goals.”
This paper offered the analysis that the voters’ disappointment with the major opposition parties gave Abe his consecutive victories in national elections.
Soon after Japanese media outlets reported the exit poll figures, AP observed that “along with promoting his economic revitalization policies, this may open the way for Prime Minister Abe to revise the pacifist constitution.”
BBC commented that “while Prime Minister Abe fought in the election on economic issues, his hidden agenda was securing enough seats to achieve constitutional revision.”
The Chinese Xinhua News Agency reported in a newsflash that the ruling parties were expected to win a majority, citing Japanese news reports.
CCTV noted that “this Upper House election is a crucial election for the pro-constitutional revision forces.” It cited comments of experts that “Prime Minister Abe is exaggerating the external threat in order to win the people’s support for constitutional revision.”
South Korea’s Yonhap sent out a newsflash on the ruling bloc’s victory and predicted that the Abe administration will persist in its basic foreign policy of applying pressure on China through Japan-U.S.-ROK cooperation. It also indicated that the basic trend toward normalization of relations between the two countries since the bilateral agreement on the comfort women issue last December is likely to continue. It reported that “Japan’s pacifist constitution is at the crossroads.”
Russia’s TASS News Agency predicted that “Abenomics will accelerate” and that “in-depth discussions on constitutional revision” will begin.
