April 30, 2007 issue - It's been a rocky six months for Shinzo Abe. Ever since he became Japan's prime minister in September, he's struggled to buoy his plummeting popularity amid mishaps and scandals. But this month he got help from an unexpected quarter: Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who came to Tokyo to warm the two countries' frosty relations. Wen's visit, payback for a trip to Beijing Abe made shortly after coming to office, has boosted Abe's approval rating by 4.3 percent in the past month (to 44.2 percent, according to the Kyodo news agency). And it points to the one way Abe may be able to bail out his government. Though he's failed to articulate any sort of coherent domestic program, an increasingly assertive foreign policy may prove Abe's salvation.
At least, he seems to hope so. Abe plans to build on Wen's visit by heading to Washington and Camp David next week, where he'll showcase his friendship with George W. Bush and reaffirm the U.S.-Japan alliance. Next, he'll fly to the Middle East, the biggest source of Japan's oil, where he'll stop in several gulf kingdoms and Egypt. Coming on the heels of a landmark defense treaty Tokyo signed with Australia on March 13, the moves suggest Abe is on something of a roll, and before his departure, he granted NEWSWEEK an exclusive interview on his new foreign policy (following story). Despite his successes, however, international affairs could still prove his undoing. The same principles that have fueled his victories have also led to some of the worst controversies. Abe, at heart, is a conservative Japanese nationalist eager to reassert his country's standing. But the world may not be ready for this, at least not unless Abe deftly navigates very tricky waters.
Witness the storm he has caused over the "comfort women" who were forced to serve in brothels patronized by the Imperial armed forces during World War II. The long-simmering issue came to the fore this year when the U.S. Congress began deliberating whether to demand that Tokyo apologize. Abe responded by attempting to minimize Japan's responsibility and seemed to cast doubt on an earlier apology issued in 1993. This led to international outcry, and on March 11, Abe—clearly hoping to make the issue go away before he left for Washington—said his government would stand by the 1993 statement.
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