Abe is reinforced

Shinzo Abe has shown in Japan that calling a snap general election is not necessarily a disastrous gamble. If he sees out another four-year term – taking in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 – he will become Japan’s longest-serving prime minister of modern times. He has consolidated his position with a landslide majority for his Liberal Democratic Party that belied earlier indications of waning popularity.

Mr Abe’s ostensible justification for the election was to confront the renewed threat posed by a nuclear-armed North Korea by reforming Japan’s pacifist constitution. He now has the mandate to do so, thereby allowing Japan to come to the military aid of its American ally in the event of an attack but also to defend itself. It can no longer rely on the protection of American power, given Donald Trump’s insistence that countries in Europe and Asia should contribute more to their own security.

He is also free to pursue so-called “Abenomics”, a package of measures aimed at lifting Japan out of the deflationary doldrums that have afflicted the country for 20 years. Mr Abe is expected to use his additional parliamentary clout to push for a fiscal stimulus to offset a consumption tax rise scheduled for 2019. He will now be able to see whether these endeavours bear fruit while in office.

Mr Abe’s first international conversation after his victory was with President Trump, who is visiting Japan next month. The two leaders have a mutual interest in dealing with the North Koreans, as do others in the region. With the Chinese Communist Party Congress at an end and the Japanese election over, now is the time for all three powers to take a united stand against Pyongyang.