Quad of PMs helps Japan mourn its ‘compass’
Anthony Albanese has paid tribute to Shinzo Abe, a key architect of the Quad grouping, accompanied by John Howard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.
Anthony Albanese has paid tribute to former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, a visionary strategist and the key architect of the Quad alliance, as the Prime Minister joined some of world’s leading political figures for Abe’s state funeral in Tokyo.
Mr Albanese was accompanied by three former Australian prime ministers – John Howard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull – to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Akasaka State Palace.
“I brought with me three former prime ministers here as a sign of respect … of the significance of the relationship between Australia and Japan,” Mr Albanese said in Tokyo.
The Prime Minister held separate bilateral talks on Tuesday with both Mr Kishida and US Vice-President Kamala Harris, who praised Canberra’s new climate policy as “ambitious”.
The pair also discussed the AUKUS trilateral security partnership, the Quad grouping of Washington, Tokyo, New Delhi and Canberra, as well as working together to ensure “peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific”.
The state funeral for Abe, who led his country twice as prime minister from 2006-07 and again from 2012-20, was attended by more than 4000 people.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, former UK prime minister Theresa May and former French president Nicholas Sarkozy were among the world leaders and former leaders at the ceremony at Nippon Budokan arena.
Beijing sent a junior representative, Wan Gang, a former minister of science and technology, to what was only the second state funeral in Japan’s postwar history.
The poignant service began with Abe’s widow Akie Abe, dressed in a black kimono, somberly carrying her husband’s ashes into the venue, as a 19-gun salute fired.
“Who would have foreseen that such a day would come to us,” Mr Kishida said in his eulogy.
“Mr Abe, you were a person who should have lived much, much longer.”
He described his predecessor as “a compass for Japan and the world’s future”.
“Courage is doing what is right. Mr Abe, you were that person of courage,” Mr Kishida said, solemnly pledging to continue his predecessor’s work.
Mr Kishida praised Abe’s legacy, including revitalising Japan’s position in the world, strengthening its alliance with the US and deepening its ties with Australia and India.
Before the service, Mr Albanese said the tragic circumstances of Abe’s assassination had “reverberated around the world”, and he called it an honour to be in Tokyo to pay tribute to the Japanese leader and his “vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
Abe was the driving force behind the Quad grouping of Japan, Australia, the US and India, which he envisioned as a way to constrain China’s increased assertiveness in the region.
For Canberra and Tokyo, the Quad has also provided a hedge against America’s sometimes erratic engagement in the region particularly during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Japan’s longest serving prime minister also advised Australia’s leaders as they recast their strategy to deal with Beijing under the leadership of Xi Jinping.
“The relationship between Australia and Japan is so important,” Mr Albanese told Mr Kishida on Tuesday.
“And that importance I think is underlined by the fact that I am here as a sitting Prime Minister, even though our parliament is sitting, (and) I brought with me as well … former prime ministers Turnbull, Abbott and Howard.”
He added: “The Quad leaders’ dialogue would not have occurred without his leadership.”
After the initial wave of shock and sadness following Abe’s assassination, there has been rising discontent within the Japanese public about the $18m cost of the state funeral as well as Abe’s links to the Unification Church, a source of grievance for the shooter, an unemployed loner.
An NHK opinion poll earlier this month found only 32 per cent of respondents approved of the state funeral, and 57 per cent disapproved. Mr Kishida’s approval ratings have fallen as a result.
However, after weeks of discord, there was an outpouring of grief on Tuesday. Japanese authorities had to open a public memorial near the funeral venue 30 minutes early to accommodate the thousands of people waiting to leave flowers.
Anti-state funeral protesters also gathered nearby.
Mr Albanese used his bilateral talks with Ms Harris before the service to discuss the AUKUS trilateral security partnership with the UK, the Quad (whose leaders’ meeting Australia will host next year), and climate change policy.
“You have been particularly… ambitious – and I say that with admiration – with your climate goals,” Ms Harris said.
“President Biden and I in our country just recently passed significant legislation dedicating $US370m to what the United States can do to address the climate crisis,” she said.
“That coupled with … your leadership … we believe the combination of the two at this moment will accelerate the work our two nations can do.”
Abe was one of Mr Xi’s most influential international rivals who oversaw Tokyo’s pushback against China’s rising assertiveness. Taiwan – which Abe, its most prominent international supporter, was to visit days before his murder – was represented by a three-person delegation, including two former parliamentary speakers and a former premier.
Yoshihide Suga, who succeeded Mr Abe as Japanese prime minister and was one of his closest friends, gave a grief-stricken eulogy that moved many, including Mrs Abe, to tears.
Mr Suga described his desperation on the day Abe was shot, as he rushed to the hospital.
“I prayed for your survival with all of my might. I had to see you with my own eyes,” Mr Suga said.
“The sun still rises and sets as it has always been. The buzzing noises of the cicadas have quieted down with the lapse of time. In the tall autumn sky are beautiful clouds. Seasons change, and time passes, though we no longer have you with us. In the transience of time, I am still grieving.”
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