Death of Japan’s ex-PM celebrated by online sickos in China and South Korea
While most of the world have paid tribute to Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on Friday (June 8), some social media users in China and South Korea were celebrating his tragic death.
The 67-year-old was gunned down while speaking to a crowd at a campaign event in the city of Nara, where he was giving a speech in support of a candidate in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, around 11.30am.
He was shot twice in the neck from close range and was rushed to Nara Medical University Hospital, but couldn’t be revived and was declared dead at 5.03pm.
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The suspected gunman has been identified as 41-year-old Nara resident, Tetsuya Yamagami, who was arrested on the spot and later confessed to the shooting, with a homemade weapon.
World leaders from the past and present – including prime ministers, presidents and the Queen – have expressed shock and sadness over the killing of Abe, but the feelings have been rather different in China and South Korea, where some nationalists hailed Yamagami as a “hero”.
On Billibilli, China’s equivalent of YouTube, a user wrote: “Great news” on a video about Abe’s killing, while this post on Weibo, “Let the celebrations begin”, received 150,000 likes within 30 minutes.
A social media account of China Central Television was also filled with comments in support of the attack that killed Abe.
Abe spent nearly eight years at the helm of the Japanese government, before resigning in 2020 over health concerns.
He introduced major reforms, including modernising the country’s security forces, stepping up their alliance with the US, and reviving the economy after two decades of stagnation.
He was also known for pushing back against increasing aggression from China in the Indo-Pacific region, partly by initiating the Quad — a security partnership with the US, Australia, and India, which was considered by China to be the “Asian NATO”.
Chinese artist and activist Badiucao tweeted that some Chinese nationalists were celebrating Abe’s death.
He wrote: “Chinese nationalists have began to celebrate that Japan’s ex PM Abe is shot. They call the attacker ‘hero’.”
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He also posted a screenshot of a Twitter comment saying: “Abe is dead, it’s like, open champagne.”
Another tweeted: “I hate my country’s government, but that doesn’t stop me from loving my country or celebrating Abe’s death. Good to die. Pop champagne! Well done.”
The China Foreign Ministry took a more sympathetic approach in line with the rest of the world on Friday. China was “shocked” by the attack, spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a Beijing press briefing.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida paid tribute to his predecessor in a news conference after Abe was declared dead, calling him “very warm and kind” and “may his soul rest in peace”.
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