2022-10-01: Shinzo Abe's State Funeral

Hi everyone, welcome to Difference Frames the World, a place to view world affairs from a different angle. Although we have been demonetized for ten months, and the platform has not paid us a penny for our work for over eleven months, we still try our best to upload at least two videos each week. Nearly one thousand supporters and patrons have enabled us to sustain ourselves for so long, and they are the real heroes at the back of DFTW. Today, we discuss Shinzo Abe, whose national funeral was as controversial as the former Japanese Prime Minister had been before his assassination. On September 27, the Japanese government held a state funeral for him, and many world leaders flew to Japan to showcase their friendship. It was also an excellent opportunity to cherish seeing the beautiful fall of Tokyo. Among various global disasters and headaches, the former Japanese leader offered his last residue value for worldwide politicians to pretend they still cared for something. Major Japanese media reported Shinzo Abe's national funeral. Still, TV Tokyo's funeral broadcast lasted only five minutes, and then it played a comic movie, "Beethoven," about the happiness of a US family and a lovely dog. We are still determining whether TV Tokyo wanted to relate Shinzo Abe to that handsome dog or if it wanted to emphasize the importance of the former Japanese leader to the United States. Still, many netizens were delighted, saying TV Tokyo is a station that will not waver no matter what happens. On September 27, 2022, while most, if not all, Japanese TV stations broadcasted Shinzo Abe's state funeral, TV Tokyo broadcasted a five-minute "special report" showing the scene of Abe's ashes being taken from his home to the Nippon Budokan. It also reported on the voices of those who came to lay flowers, the differences of opinion between those in favour and those against, and the clashes between those who demonstrated against the state funeral and those who supported it around the venue. TV Tokyo then played the Hollywood movie "Beethoven," a classic American family comedy released in 1992, about a dog as pleasant as Shinzo Abe. Most TV stations covered Shinzo Abe's state funeral completely, and TV Tokyo was different as usual. We cannot say TV Tokyo was correct, and all other stations were wrong, as both sides had the right to do whatever they wanted. After all, like Great Britain, Japan is a democracy under a monarch, and its new Prime Minister resembles his British counterpart, as brother and sister. Here, we want to look back at what happened to Shinzo Abe three months ago, which shocked the world, particularly world leaders. On July 8, 2022, two gunshots from a hand-made gun killed Shinzo Abe when he delivered a speech for the LDP to win more seats in the senate election on July 12, 2022. Thousands of politicians worldwide showed their sympathy, and the United States flew its flags at half staff, and Tsai Ing-wen, nicknamed Tsai English, followed Joe Biden's suit immediately. Not only did the DPP government show its condolence to Shinzo Abe with such a demeanour, but the Kuomintang leader, Zhu Li Lun, also showed his agreement with Tsai Ing-wen's decision, which justified our comment in previous videos that the Kuomintang is no better than the DPP authorities. Even if it takes over the DPP in the coming election, Beijing will not likely have a peaceful reunification with Taiwan. Of particular note, Shinzo Abe had planned to visit Taiwan at the end of July 2022, and unfortunately for him, he could never make it alive, fortunately for Taiwan and Beijing. His soul, if any, might go there at midnight when the noon does not shine. Several Japanese politicians who had planned to accompany him to the island visited Taiwan on his behalf. And ironically, one guy in the delegation replaced Shinzo Abe's brother's position in the Japanese government. After the death of Shinzo Abe, the new Prime Minister immediately got rid of the Abe faction. Still, the Japanese government wanted to use his residue value fully and gave him a state funeral. Shinzo Abe constantly wanted to get involved in Taiwan's self-defence when he was still alive, and even after his death, many Japanese officials expressed their moral support for Taiwan's so-called freedom. Since the Biden administration came into power in January 2021, the US and Japan have conspired to provoke Beijing on the Taiwan issue. The US and Japan wanted to keep Taiwan on fire with Shinzo Abe's planned visit to the island, but his sudden death disrupted the schedule. US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in early August to continue her delayed trip in April 2022, which looked more like a plan B. Her trip to Taiwan was indeed welcomed by Beijing, as the Chinese Army changed the status quo in the Taiwan Strait permanently. When the People's Liberation Army flexed its muscle around and above the renegade island, Japanese and US armies stayed away from the military exercise areas as safely as they could. The wrinkled pink lady has lived long enough, far beyond an average American's expected lifespan. Still, she looks energetic, and it seems she can create more trouble across the Taiwan strait after her adventurous and foolish trip to the island two months ago. Nancy Pelosi, still alive, and Shinzo Abe, already dead, played the same card on the Taiwan issue, meaning Tokyo and Washington have the same hidden agenda. Shinzo Abe could have caused more trouble than Nancy Pelosi if the low-quality bullets had not killed him. As Japan's longest-serving prime minister, who resigned for health reasons two years ago, he still could have influenced Japan to counter China and possibly become the Japanese Prime Minister for the third time. His sudden death was good news for the current Japanese government that could have stayed in power shorter if Shinzo Abe were not dead. Shinzo Abe left phenomenal marks in the history of Japanese politics and economy, such as advancing the conservative agenda of restoring Japan's economy, strengthening the military, and boosting Japan's national pride. However, his conservative stance and strong personal imprint also angered neighbouring nations in Asia, particularly China and South Korea. He was a mixture of two extremes. His paternal grandfather was a member of the house of representatives opposing the invasion of China, and his maternal grandfather was a war criminal. It is worth mentioning that he seldom mentioned his paternal grandfather, a freedom fighter. Still, he was proud of his maternal grandfather, a war criminal whom the US army detained for three years after the war. Despite his maternal grandfather's crime related to notorious and atrocious unit 731, the US army set him free and used him as the first post-war Japanese Prime Minister. As a conservative politician who wanted to revise the peace constitution that shackled the development of Japan's military power development, he got his grandson, Shinzo Abe, to continue his mission to amend the constitution and end the post-war system. In September 2006, Shinzo Abe became the president of the liberal democratic party and then the prime minister of Japan, reaching the first peak of his political career. During his first term, he took an essential step in unbundling Japan's military. At the same time, he tried to mend the relations with neighbouring countries, adopting a more practical stance. His first term was short. As scandals emerged among cabinet members and senior LDP officials, Shinzo Abe's approval rating plummeted, and in September 2007, he announced his first resignation on the grounds of health problems. The resignation almost ended his political life. However, he was the leader of the most influential faction of the liberal democratic party, and five years later, he became the Japanese prime minister again. He kept the position for three consecutive terms, becoming the most influential prime minister in japan after world war two, famous for his Abe economics, the Japanese version of printing money. Whether one loves or hates him, he was a great leader for Japan and much more competent than most US Presidents like George Bush Junior or Joe Biden Junior. Undoubtedly, he loved Japan and was very popular in Japan and western nations. After his death, some western nations wanted to glorify him as a world leader. Western media have elevated Shinzo Abe to a position as a holy figure, claiming japan has become the epitome of peace and stability, attributing that to Shinzo Abe's efforts. In reality, Shinzo Abe was a representative of ultra-nationalists who had denied japan's invasion of China and the Nanjing massacre entirely. Japan has nothing to do with the so-called peace and stability but is a country with a history of political violence in the past centuries. It has been trying to take over China like the Mongols and Manchus, as we analyzed in the series of Japan in early September. Tens of millions of Chinese died because of Japan's atrocities, and Japan also committed crimes in many other Asian nations. Moreover, it should have killed millions of American soldiers if the US did not drop two atomic bombs. However, the country never sincerely apologized for its wrongdoings in the last century. Shinzo Abe was a representative of conservative forces who did not admit Japan had invaded China and other nations. Japan even revised its textbooks, saying Japan entered china like visiting a neighbour as a friend instead of killing millions. Japan showed extreme obedience to the Americans, hoping the United States would allow Japan to obtain the right to engage in war, lifting the ban on collective self-defence so that it could become a normal country. Even though Japan regards itself as a western country, no western powers take it seriously. At G7 summits, Japanese leaders always hide their faces behind other leaders' backs, as timid as sheep. The reason is straightforward. Japan is not independent, and the US military bases decide its status as a US colony. Shinzo Abe tried to change it, but he did not make it. His death was a surprise to western media, and they used his assassination as a tool to contain China. The Washington Post published an article titled the US should support Japan's move to normalize its military. It boasts about the so-called Abe Economics and mentions Japan's contributions under the umbrella of the US indo-pacific strategy when Shinzo Abe was in power. According to the US foreign policy website, Shinzo Abe feels very strongly that Japan cannot live in an Asia dominated by China. He has helped persuade a silent Japanese public to take a tougher stance on the rise of China by increasing Japan's defence spending and strengthening Japan's military. Shinzo Abe laid the groundwork for a four-party security dialogue mechanism, the QUAD. Some US politicians wanted to militarize Japan to counterbalance China's rising power, and Shinzo Abe's death was perfect for Japan to get the world's sympathy when it wanted to become a regular country, as China's so-called threat became an excellent excuse to set Japan's militarism free from Pandora's box. Shinzo Abe died, and we should let him rest peacefully instead of swaying his body in the coffin and scrambling his ashes in the urn. It is a shame for the western media to exploit Shinzo Abe's residual value after his death to fulfill their hidden agendas. His death might expedite the revision of Japan's post-war constitution. The country may even become Asia's Ukraine if some country wants to contain China with the same playbook dealing with Russia. It demands Japanese politicians' wisdom to avoid such a tragedy as Shinzo Abe wanted to normalize Japan as a world power, not a puppet succumbing to a superpower forever. He was first a patriotic Japanese, then a great national leader. Also, he was an ordinary national leader, and under America's strict control, he could not make many contributions to Japan's development. With the sharp depreciation of the Japanese currency, Japan is as bad as in the 1980s. The so-called Abe economics turned out to be nothing but a bubble, a money printing game by setting up inflation targets and creating an expectation of price increases. The Japanese people are forced to buy things before they become more expensive, thus boosting consumption. After implementing such a policy, ordinary Japanese people are more wretched, and the rich become wealthier. As the dog in the comic movie, Japan is still a puppet for the United States, and it can never gain independence if it cannot get rid of America's control. Shinzo Abe did not change Japan, and his followers will not change the country if they continue to succumb to Washington's pressure to provoke China, its biggest business partner. Before ending today's video, we want to thank our supporters and patrons again for their continuous support, which has kept DFTW alive for so long without a penny from Google. 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