Japanese PM Shinzo Abe to speak before the US Congress today

[Statistikhengst]

Photo source: REUTERS/JOSHUA ROBERTS​

In speech to Congress Japan s Abe faces challenges on trade wartime past Reuters


Some very, very interesting details, I think, worth noting, from the article:

When Shinzo Abe becomes the first Japanese prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, he will face two formidable challenges: convincing skeptical lawmakers about a proposed Pacific trade pact and easing concerns about his views on Tokyo’s wartime past...

But with many of Obama’s fellow Democrats reluctant to back his trade agenda for fear that it will hurt U.S. jobs, Abe could have a hard time selling them on the need to break down trade barriers with Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim countries involved in the negotiations.

While Abe is sure to receive a warm welcome in Congress as a reliable U.S. partner, the conservative premier – who has sought to cast Japan’s aggressive World War Two-era conduct with a less-apologetic tone – can expect intense scrutiny of his speech for how he handles history...

...Some American critics, including politicians and war veterans, have urged Abe to use the speech to make a strong public expression of contrition about World War Two to erase concerns that he is trying to dilute past official statements of remorse by Japanese leaders...

...Abe will address Congress from the spot where President Franklin Roosevelt asked for a declaration of war against Imperial Japan after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The speech will coincide with Japan’s national holiday marking the birthday of its wartime emperor, Hirohito.

If Abe sticks to the script he has followed since launching his U.S. trip earlier this week, he is likely to uphold previous Japanese apologies, including a 1995 landmark statement by then-premier Tomiichi Murayama, but will probably stop short of directly issuing any new ones....

...Abe is under pressure from critics to allay concerns that he wants to whitewash Japan's role of wartime aggression. His 2013 visit to the Yasukuni shrine, which honors the nation’s war dead but is also where a number of convicted war criminals are memorialized, angered Seoul and Beijing...

...Obama will follow the presidential custom and not be present.

So, today is going to be historical for a number of interesting reasons.


Discuss.