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Joins race for Premier

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso on Monday announced his candidature for Prime Minister's post and pledged that he would, if elected, strive to improve Tokyo's worsening relations with China and South Korea. Mr. Aso threw his hat in the ring ahead of Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, who is expected to do so on September 1. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the main outfit in Japan's ruling coalition, is scheduled to elect a new leader on September 20. The LDP plan for a leadership election, for the party's presidency and therefore the country's top executive post, has been necessitated by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision to retire from the centre-stage. Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki has already announced his candidature for the LDP leader's post. Mr. Aso, unveiling his political agenda as Prime Minister aspirant, said in Tokyo that he would try to "fix" the problem of worsening relations with both China and South Korea and pursue a domestic policy of economic growth and educational reforms. Japan's ties with China, strained on account of several issues have deteriorated in the context of Mr. Koizumi's pilgrimage to the Yasukuni shrine. The shrine is seen by Japan's neighbours as a symbol of its militarism.

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