KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Leaders around the world condemned the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday as “despicable,” “cowardly” and “terrorism” while recalling him as a man devoted to peace, security and international cooperation.
Tributes poured in as governments expressed sorrow and solidarity with Japan over the loss of Abe, who was Japan’s longest-serving leader before stepping down in 2020 for health reasons.
Abe, 67, was shot from behind in Nara in western Japan while giving a campaign speech. He was airlifted to a hospital and later pronounced dead. The attack was especially shocking in one of the world’s safest countries, where guns are strictly controlled.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he was “stunned, outraged, and deeply saddened.” He visited the residence of Japan’s ambassador to the U.S. on Friday to offer condolences. He placed a bouquet of flowers on a table set up near a koi pond and wrote in a condolence book that Abe was “a man of peace and judgment.”
“This is a tragedy for Japan and for all who knew him,” Biden said. “His vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific will endure. Above all, he cared deeply about the Japanese people and dedicated his life to their service.“
The assassination struck a chord statewide where ties with Japan run deep.
“I am deeply saddened to hear of the untimely death of Shinzo Abe,” Mayor Derek S. K. Kawakami said. “His kindness and leadership have touched us all, especially here on Kaua‘i where our ties with Japan are tightly knit. While I did not have the opportunity to meet him in person, I was fortunate to travel to Japan in 2019, where we met members of his delegation and was treated with the utmost respect and aloha.”
Gov. David Ige ordered flags at half-staff in honor of the former Prime Minister’s death.
“I’m devastated by the news of former Prime Minister Abe’s assassination,” said Ige in a statement. “This senseless act of violence has taken the life of a true friend of Hawai‘i. In our multiple meetings, we shared stories of our past, embraced our common culture, and continued the quest for reconciliation and partnership that has developed between the United States and Japan.”
U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), an immigrant born in Japan who was the first Asian and Japanese American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate said that she was “shocked and deeply saddened” by the event.
“This senseless murder was a barbaric act — and one that I condemn in the strongest terms possible,” she said.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who hastily returned to Tokyo from campaign events around the country, condemned the “unforgivable act.” He said campaigning as well as Sunday’s elections for parliament’s upper house will proceed.
“The free and fair election, which is the root of democracy, needs to be protected no matter what. We will not be defeated by violence,” Kishida said.
Biden called Kishida “a very solid guy” and said he did not believe the killing was likely to have “any profound, destabilizing impact on Japanese security or Japanese solidarity.”
Leaders from Turkey to Singapore condemned the attack. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the French foreign ministry called the shooting “despicable,” and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said it was “cowardly.”
The U.N. Security Council stood in silent tribute to Abe after the current council president, Brazil’s U.N. Ambassador Ronaldo Costa Filho, expressed “our sadness and shock at the senseless assassination.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Abe will be remembered “as a staunch defender of multilateralism, respected leader and supporter of the United Nations.” Abe was committed to promoting peace and security, championing U.N. development goals and advocating for universal health coverage, Guterres said, according to his spokesman.
“I have fond memories of meeting Mr. Abe and his wife during their visit to the United Kingdom in 2016,” Queen Elizabeth II said in a written statement. “His love for Japan, and his desire to forge ever-closer bonds with the United Kingdom, were clear.”
Public broadcaster NHK aired a dramatic video of Abe giving a speech outside a train station in Nara. He is standing, dressed in a navy blue suit, raising his fist, when two gunshots are heard. The video then shows Abe collapsed on the street.
Security guards are seen leaping on top of a man in a gray shirt who lies face down on the pavement. A double-barreled device that appeared to be a handmade gun is seen on the ground.
Police arrested a suspect at the scene. Under Japanese law, possession of firearms is illegal without a special license. Importing them is also illegal.
Leaders from Germany, Pakistan, India, Australia, Sweden, Iran, Jordan and the Philippines were also among those who gave condolences, and many countries including Spain and France expressed solidarity with Japan.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped Abe’s killer will be dealt with “swiftly and harshly.” “Really BAD NEWS FOR THE WORLD!” he said on his social media platform. He said Abe “was a unifier like no other, but above all, he was a man who loved and cherished his magnificent country, Japan.”
One of Abe’s most famous and lasting policies was Abenomics, which he launched in 2013 to jumpstart the economy after more than two decades of deflation.
The policy involved ramping up government spending and monetary easing. He also pushed for reforms like cutting corporate taxes and red tape as well as liberalizing sectors of the economy.
Arguably one of his biggest legacies involved opening up the traditionally male-dominated labor market to Japanese women.
After the devastation of World War II, Japanese law put limits on using military force except for national self-defense. But in 2014, Abe’s Cabinet reinterpreted the Constitution to allow the armed forces to aid an allied nation under attack, even if Japan itself was not.
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Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report. The Garden Island journalist Guthrie Scrimgeour also contributed.
