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Article: POLITICS-JAPAN: NORTH KOREA TOPS NEW PRIME MINISTER'S AGENDA.
- Article from:
- Interpress Service
- Article date:
- October 24, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Global Information Network. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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by John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2006 (IPS/GIN) -- Many foreign policy challenges lie ahead for Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, but his most pressing concern is much closer at hand: North Korea, which conducted a nuclear test Oct. 9.
Since then, Japan has been lobbying for strong United Nations-backed sanctions and implemented even stronger unilateral measures. This has now acquired urgency in Japan's foreign policy environment, where officials are looking at China as an economic competitor and potential military challenge, and amid questions about Tokyo's support for U.S. policies in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Prime Minister Abe is ...