Shinzo Abe made Japan an ever closer ally: ex-U.S. diplomats

Armitage, Russel and Roos tell Nikkei of assassinated ex-PM's achievements

20220711 Abe US flag

"Mr. Abe strengthened the U.S.-Japan relationship enormously," former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Nikkei. © Reuters

YUKIHIRO SAKAGUCHI and TOMOKO ASHIZUKA, Nikkei staff writers

WASHINGTON -- Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, shot and killed on Friday, will be remembered as the one who brought his country and the U.S. ever closer, former diplomats and government officials in the U.S. told Nikkei.

"Mr. Abe was a giant on the world stage. He was very much the leader of the free world when the U.S. was absent, during a previous administration," former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Nikkei.

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