Blinken: Abe’s assassination ‘profoundly disturbing’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday called the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minsiter Abe Shinzo a “shocking” and “profoundly disturbing” event that represented “such a strong personal loss for so many people.”

Speaking at the G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Blinken said he had conveyed to his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi the United States’ “very deep condolences” on Abe’s death, which came hours after he was shot while giving a speech in the western city of Nara.

Blinken, appearing alongside South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, went on to describe Abe as “an extraordinary partner and someone who clearly was a great leader for Japan … but also so admired as a global leader.”

Abe, who resigned from office in September 2020 because of health problems, “brought the relationship between … the United States and Japan to new heights” and was “a leader with great vision for what a free and open Indo-Pacific region could look like,” Blinken said.

“I have to just say, finally, that our thoughts are really with all of his family and his friends,” Blinken added. “We really, really deeply mourn … the loss for his family, the loss for his friends, the loss for the people of Japan, the loss for the world.”