Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the architect of the country’s hawkish China policy, was shot in the chest at around 11:30 am in Nara. Shinzo Abe was rushed to a hospital bleeding, with first responders saying he was “showing no vital signs”.
“Former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot at around 11:30 am in Nara. One man, believed to be the shooter, has been taken into custody. The condition of former Prime Minister Abe is currently unknown,” Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters. Shinzo Abe suffered from a cardiac arrest shortly after being shot, news agencies reported.
A man in his 40s has been arrested on charges of attempted murder. Reports indicate that Shinzo Abe was possibly shot at from behind, and collapsed when the second bullet was fired. NDTV reported that Japan is a country with some of the strictest gun laws among leading economies and shootings are rare.
NEW: Video of the shooting of former 🇯🇵Japanese PM Shinzō Abe, advisor to Nippon Kaigi, largest ultranationalist lobby. pic.twitter.com/VYQtBVN4OT
— Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) July 8, 2022
Second video shows the attempted assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
NOTE: Video not graphic, but viewer discretion is advised pic.twitter.com/BZNGHP78ds
— BNO News (@BNONews) July 8, 2022
Why Abe is a treasure trove for Japan?
The Japanese political landscape was turbulent when Shinzo Abe took the reins of the leadership, and it was he who boosted confidence in Japan. He was the one who made Japan an overt, expressive and assertive military power, which was no longer willing to shy away from asserting its claims and leading the countries in its area of influence.
Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving Prime Minister of post-war Japan, has recently made quite a few appearances in public. He recently began serving as an advisor to groups of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) legislators and has been regularly delivering public messages. Shinzo Abe is a great strategic asset for Japan. Banking on this asset, Japan can easily mobilize its people against China without giving any opportunity to Beijing for castigating the Japanese government.
Diplomacy is Shinzo Abe’s cup of tea. His dealing with China very well serves as a lesson in geopolitics for leaders around the world. With support from the US, India and Australia, Abe’s dreams of materializing the Quad finally saw the light of the day. Shinzo Abe’s leadership has played and will continue to play a vital role in guiding the democratic world’s crusade against Chinese tyranny in the times to come.
That makes him the enemy of many on the international stage as well. For nations like China, he’s the worst one! This is quite evident in various of China’s official pamphlet Global Times’ articles. In an article titled “Abe, Japan’s right-wing menace to Asia’s economic integration”, the wolf-warrior pamphlet urged Japan to co-operate on economic issues and work towards reaching the potential of Japan-China-South Korea trilateral economic arrangement, rather than getting hijacked by the “right-wing” politicians like Shinzo Abe.
So, after formally ejecting the office, Abe has incessantly conveyed a loud and bold message to China and the rest of the world that he might have resigned from the political corridors but in the public memory, he will continue to be the nationalistic leader who brought the country from oblivion into the mainstream.
So, it’s clear that Abe has always been a constant pain in the neck for the Chinese government. An investigation into the recent shooting incident must be conducted on an urgent basis, and it would be a mistake to rule out any international conspiracy behind this heinous episode.
Also Read: Shinzo Abe – The Father of the QUAD has tasked himself with the freedom of Taiwan
