Arab News Japan
TOKYO: ISHIBA Shigeru, a veteran politician from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who is vying to become Japan’s next Prime Minister, says if he comes to power he will work for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“We need an immediate ceasefire,” he told Arab News Japan. “Secondly, we must return to the Oslo agreements and implement them, which means establishing a Palestinian state. Thirdly, we must see what the new US administration will do.”
Ishiba, who is the chairperson for the UAE-Japan Parliamentary Friendship League and is running “to restore the public’s trust in the LDP,” described Gaza as “a very tragic situation.”
One issue that he is concerned about is energy. “We must think about the next generation,” he told a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. “If the (polar) ice starts to melt, then viruses contained in the ice might start to appear. We must do our utmost to resolve global warming. This is a very urgent issue. The ratio of renewable energy needs to be increased as much as possible.”
Ishiba suggested that geothermal energy and nuclear energy will probably provide the answers for Japan’s energy demands in the future.
The former defense minister hinted that Japan’s relationship with the United States would not significantly change no matter who wins the US presidential election and added that he regards America as a trusted defense partner. “I would not even attempt to say that US is an unreliable partner in terms of deterrence; that would be totally devastating if I ever said something like that.”