{"id":59529,"date":"2020-10-06T06:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T19:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=59529"},"modified":"2020-10-05T17:09:53","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T06:09:53","slug":"after-abe-where-to-for-australias-quasi-alliance-with-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/after-abe-where-to-for-australias-quasi-alliance-with-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"After Abe: Where to for Australia\u2019s quasi-alliance with Japan?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The departure of Abe Shinzo as Japan\u2019s leader opens a new era for Canberra\u2019s quasi-alliance with Tokyo.<\/p>\n

Australia is going to find out how much its small \u2018a\u2019 alliance<\/a> is based on Abe and how much on more permanent shifts in Japan\u2019s policy personality.<\/p>\n

Was Abe an outlier or has he recast the mould for future leaders and Tokyo\u2019s role in Asia? Japan\u2019s longest-serving<\/a> prime minister was transformative<\/a>. Now we\u2019ll see how deep the transformation goes.<\/p>\n

Abe pushed for a stronger, more autonomous<\/a> Japan rather than a comfortable<\/a> Japan declining gently into middle-power ease.<\/p>\n

Comfortable Japan would cuddle the peace of its pacifist strain, no longer wanting to serve as the US\u2019s unsinkable aircraft carrier. The US\u2013Japan alliance would fade as Tokyo decided the cost of resisting Beijing was too high. A Sinocentric future would be portrayed as Japan turning back to Asia.<\/p>\n

One Abe-era change that fits either the strong or the comfortable narrative is the decision to\u00a0drop Western name order<\/a>\u00a0and return to Asian tradition, putting the surname first. Thus, this column refers to Abe Shinzo, rather than the previous Shinzo Abe ordering. Here was a prime minister who changed things.<\/p>\n

A mark of Abe\u2019s impressive<\/a> leadership was his ability to engage China but never bow to Beijing. As Ramesh Thakur notes<\/a>, Abe\u2019s \u2018foreign-policy and national-security accomplishments will be key parts of his enduring legacy\u2019. Rod Lyon mused that Abe\u2019s \u2018special relationship<\/a>\u2019 with Oz was atypical in the region\u2014a level of strategic cooperation that no other Asian leader would reach for. Australia valued Abe\u2019s declaration that Japan will have a military and security role<\/a> in Asia\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Abe\u2019s influence touched much that matters in Canberra:<\/p>\n