Last updated: 56 minutes ago
image source,Archyde.com
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno confirmed that Shinzo Abe was shot at regarding 11:30 a.m. Japan time.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot in the chest during a speech in Nara City. He lost consciousness, bleeds from his neck, and his heart stopped. He was sent to the hospital for treatment.
Japanese media reported that the attackers fired at Abe with a shotgun from the back. Archyde.com quoted a NHK reporter who was on the scene covering Abe’s speech as saying he heard two consecutive sounds.
Police arrested a man, Tetsuya Yamagami, who lives in Nara Prefecture on the spot on the charge of attempted murder. His motive is unknown at this time.
At the time of the incident, Abe was participating in the election campaign for Japan’s upper house election.
image source,Archyde.com
Shinzo Abe was shot in the chest during a speech in Nara City. He lost consciousness, bled from his neck, and his heart stopped. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno confirmed that Shinzo Abe was shot at regarding 11:30 a.m. Japan time on Friday (July 8). He also blamed the incident, describing such “cruel acts will not be tolerated” regardless of the motive.
The NHK quoted witnesses as saying that Abe was giving a speech at the moment when a man walked towards his back, and then gunshots were heard.
“The first sounded like a toy gun, he (Abe) didn’t fall, and then there was a louder sound. The second sound was more pronounced, you might see sparks and white smoke.”
The U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, issued a statement expressing his shock at the incident and his prayers for Abe, his family and the Japanese people.
image source,EPA
Abe is Japan’s longest-serving prime minister to date. He announced his resignation in 2020 for health reasons.
Abe was elected as the prime minister of Japan twice in 2005 and 2012, making him the longest-serving prime minister in Japan so far. He announced his resignation in 2020 for health reasons.
At that time, he was criticized continuously in Japan for his ineffective response to the new coronavirus epidemic, and his cabinet approval rating also continued to decline.
Abe, a staunch conservative and nationalist, sought to stimulate economic growth through radical “Abenomics” economic policies during his administration. He strengthened Japan’s defense capabilities and expanded military spending, but failed to amend Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, which prohibits the formation of troops for reasons other than self-defense.
He occasionally talked regarding politics following leaving office, including in March of this year, when he commented on the Russian-Ukrainian war, he pointed to Japan’s position on nuclear weapons, and described whether Japan should discuss whether to use the United States through a NATO-like mutual defense agreement. It is “normal” for nuclear weapons to protect themselves.
Abe and China
In the face of a rapidly rising China, Sino-Japanese relations have experienced several ups and downs during Abe’s tenure. When Abe first became prime minister in 2006, he chose China for his first foreign trip, and Sino-Japanese relations have shown signs of recovery since then.
After he became prime minister once more in 2012, he paid homage to the Yasukuni Shrine several times. At the same time, he consolidated the Japan-US alliance and joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) proposed by then US President Barack Obama. China-Japan relations fell to freezing point once more.
China-Japan relations achieved a long-lost breakthrough in 2018 once morest the backdrop of increasingly tense Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations and U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies.
