The “Abe/Aso Regime” and Sino-Japanese Relations

Following the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party＇s victory in the December 2012 election, some Japanese analysts pointed out that the new Abe/Aso Govemment would introduce rightist policies, and that as such it would be more difficult for China and Japan to improve their bilateral relations. As expected, in the past six months since its coming to power, the Abe cabinet has vigorously promoted so-called ＂Abe economics＂ and implemented a quantitative easing monetary policy that has caused a drastic depreciation of the Japanese Yen. In order to revise the ＂Constitution of Japan＂, in July 2013 it has been striving to win the election of the Senate. Externally, the new cabinet members have frequently visited foreign countries, implementing a diplomatic strategy of containing and countering China. One of its aims is to completely rid itself of the shackles of World War II and to try to reconstruct powerful military forces. The Diaoyu Islands issue has been used by the Abe cabinet to serve its domestic and foreign policy objectives,

The establishment of the "Abe/Aso regime" is one result of the rise of the Japanese right-wing forces.The Abe government has denied Japanese aggression history and tried to revise the Japanese Constitution in order to reconstruct powerful military forces.It has also used the Diaoyu Islands issue to serve its domestic and foreign policy objectives,causing a serious backslide in Sino-Japanese relations.