Japan should strengthen concerted efforts with other countries to deal with China

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a recent interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1993, Abe served as secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party and also as chief Cabinet secretary before taking office as prime minister in 2006. Although he stepped down for medical reasons, he returned as prime minister in 2012 and held office until September 2020. In total, he spent a record-long 3,188 days as the head of Japan's government. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

The year 2022 will be one that tests the mettle of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. How should he deal with the pandemic, foreign affairs, the economy and other issues? In a series of interviews with authoritative figures from various fields, we have collected a range of views on the challenges facing him. Our first interviewee was former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, 67. The following text is excerpted from Abe's remarks. More of what he had to say will appear in the next installment of this series.