The Economist - UK (2022-05-28)

The Economist May 28th 2022 Asia 51

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hemenusduringPresidentJoe Biden’svisittoTokyothisweekre flectedthetastesofJapan’sprimemin ister,KishidaFumio,whosefamilyis fromHiroshima.TherewereHiroshima beeffillets,Hiroshimavegetablesand Hiroshimalemonsodas.Theagenda, however,owedmoretoAbeShinzo,a formerprimeministerwholedthecoun tryfrom 2012 to2020. Japanpromisedtospendmuchmore ondefenceandurgedAmericatorejoin anAsiantradepactthebiggercountry hadditched.Botharelongtimecausesof MrAbe’s.MrKishidachattedwithMr Bidenaboutthe“FreeandOpenIndo Pacific”,a conceptMrAbecodified.The twoleadersmettheirAustralianand IndiancounterpartsaspartoftheQuad, a groupingMrAbechampioned. ThoughMrKishidaleadstheruling LiberalDemocraticParty(ldp), andthus Japanitself,thepartyremainsunderthe swayofMrAbe,especiallywhenit comes toforeignandsecuritypolicy.“Kishidais nottheagendasetterforJapan—Abeis,” saysTobiasHarris,theauthorofa biogra phyoftheformerprimeminister. MrAbe’sbasicstrategyremainsthe defaultforJapan:doublingdownonthe alliancewithAmericawhilebeefingup itsowndefencesandstrengthening partnershipswiththirdcountriesto counterChina’srise.Eventheopposition hasstruggledtoarticulateanalternative course.AsMichaelGreen,anAmerican academicandformergovernmentoffi cial,arguesina newbook,“LineofAd vantage”,thetrajectorysetunderMrAbe lookslikelytoendurefora generation: “Whatisnowinplaceisa grandstrategy fortheeraofAbeShinzo—notjustthe tenureofAbeShinzo.” Yetwhilethedirectionhasbeenset, thecountryhasyettoarrivewhereMr

Abewouldlike:a Japanlessshackledtoits postwarpastandmoreautonomousinits security.“Japanlikestospeakaboutan idealworld,”MrAbetellsTheEconomist. “Butwemustchangeourattitudeofleav ingallmilitarymatterstoAmerica.Japan musttakeresponsibilityforpeaceand stability,and...worktogetherwithAmer icatoachieveit.” Thatunﬁnishedbusinessmaybeone reasonwhyhehasescheweda quietretire ment.Hismentor,KoizumiJunichiro,a formerprimeminister,retiredfrompoli ticssoonafterleavingoﬃceandlenthis voicetothesuperherocharacterUltraman Kingin“MegaMonsterBattleUltraGalaxy: TheMovie”.Aftersteppingdownasprime ministerbecauseofa chronicillnessin 2020,MrAbeimmediatelyreturnedtothe Diet,wherehenowleadstheldp’s largest faction.Hehasusedhisvoicetocontinue callingfora moreassertivesecuritypolicy, a causethathastakenona newurgency afterVladimirPutin’sinvasionofUkraine. TheJapanesepeoplehavehadto“face thereality”thatinvasionsarepossiblein themodernera,MrAbesays.Sinceleaving

office,hehastalkedmoreopenlyabout thedefenceofTaiwan.Recently,hehas urgedJapantodiscusshostingAmerican nukes,assomenatomembersdo.Asfor thetimeandpoliticalcapitalhespenton his 27 meetingswithMrPutin,hedoes notregretit “atall”;hebacksMrKishi da’stougherapproachtoRussiainthe wakeoftheinvasion. Heseemsdeterminedtousehisbully pulpit—andhisbigvotingblocinparlia ment—topragmaticallyadvancehis goals,ratherthanpickingideological fights.HistalkofhostingAmerican nukesisintendedtoendthe“taboo” arounddiscussingnucleardeterrence, nottomaketheideaanimmediatereali ty,MrAbeinsists.Insteadofmakinga renewedcaseforrevisingJapan’spost warconstitution,hetoutsthe“epoch making”natureofthemorelimitedlegal changeshemanagedtopass,which allowtheJapaneseSelfDefenceForcesto operateina widerrangeofsituations. YetinJapan,MrAberemainsa polar isingfigure.Tosomeobservers,his recentoutspokennesspointstothe reemergenceofAbetheideologue,freed fromtheresponsibilityofhigherofficeto pushthenationalistcauseswithwhich hehaslongbeenidentified.MrKishida,a morevanillafigure,mayinfactbebetter placedtomovetheldp’s securityagenda forward.Sincefewerpeople,especially liberals,have“anallergicreaction”toMr Kishida,hemayfindit easiertogetJapan to“swallowbittermedicine”,saysAkita Hiroyuki,a commentatorforNikkei, a Japanesedaily.MrAbe’splansforbeefier Japanesesecurity,inshort,maygodown betterwitha slabofHiroshimabeef.

AbeShinzo,a hawkishformerprimeminister,stillloomslargeoverJapan

Banyan TheAbeera

............................................................. To read a full transcript of The Economist’s interview with Mr Abe, please visit economist.com/AbeInterview

in 2019, a school in Karnataka, in the south,
forced students to wear cardboard boxes
over their heads—cut open on one side—to
foil cheating.
Yet even as oﬃcials come up with novel
ideas, so do the cheats. In February, a med
ical student at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial
College in Indore, a small city, was caught
with a skincoloured Bluetooth device sur
gically implanted in his ear. A phone
linked to the device was sewn into a secret
trouser pocket. Last year, ten students tak
ing a traineeteacher exam were arrested
for attempting to use Bluetooth gadgets

concealed in the soles of their flipflops. At least 25 students had bought such footwear from a gang for 600,000 rupees ($7,700) a pair. It is often mandatory for students to remove shoes and socks before exams. Parents, too, sometimes help with the cheating. In 2015 dozens of them scaled the outside of a fivestorey building to pass an swers to their schoolchildren taking cru cial yearend exams inside. Hundreds, in cluding parents, were arrested and at least 750 students expelled. The problem may be with the education system itself, rather than any innate dis

honesty among students. Teachers receive low salaries and can be bribed to help or turn a blind eye. Schools care about pass rates. Learning revolves around memorisa tion rather than understanding or reason ing. Outcomes are poor. Exams requiring thought rather than regurgitation would be harder to memorise, says Ms Sinha. The quality of education would improve, too. The Indian government is mulling changes to the way it assesses students at higher levels. Until then, thecatandmouse game between students and invigilators is doomed to continue.n

The Economist - UK (2022-05-28)

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