Name? Shinzō Abe
Westphalian identity? Japanese
Age? 65
Why is he in the news? As the longest serving Prime Minister in Japanese history, Abe has been particularly busy this last week with joint military exercises between his navy and Modi’s navy in the Indian Ocean.
Why do we care? The joint exercises suggest that the two countries are drawing closer together to face what appears to be a common enemy: China.
Why should you care? To somewhat reiterate what was mentioned on Friday, India and China’s border dispute is a pretty big deal considering they are pretty big countries. The addition of Japan to the mix; a strong economic and emerging military power itself, does not necessarily simplify nor calm the current sentiments on either side. If anything, it adds yet another player to the equation and thus, their own interests.
Who else cares? Xi Jinping. President Xi is facing tensions from nearly every angle at this point; geographically (India), economically (US), physically (Hongkong), structurally (Corona), technologically (India again…), you get the point…Adding Prime Minister Abe to his list of concerns doesn’t exactly ease his burden.
Any further comments? Not only is Abe indirectly facing off against China in the Indian Ocean, but he is also directly facing them in the Pacific Ocean. Japan and China are currently locked in a war of words over the status of the Senkaku Islands (as Japan refers to them), otherwise known as the Diaoyu Islands (as China refers to them). In order to continue to rival Xi, Abe has also overseen joining exercises between the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force and the US military. And if that wasn’t enough, Japan’s Ministry of Defence has also established a new team to better advance maritime ties with the US, India, Australia and the Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN). Ultimately, these various actions by Abe allude to the fact that geopolitical rivals are willing to work together to counter China in the region.
