Japanese former prime minister Shinzo Abe was taken to hospital on Friday after being shot from behind by what appeared to be a man with a shotgun while delivering a speech in the western city of Nara, public broadcaster NHK said.<\/p>\n
Abe, 67, appeared to be in a state of cardiac arrest, the network said and Kyodo news agency. Shots were heard and a white puff of smoke was seen as Abe made a campaign stump speech outside a train station, NHK said.<\/p>\n
An NHK reporter on the scene said they could hear two consecutive bangs during Abe’s speech.<\/p>\n
The chief cabinet secretary will brief media at 0400 GMT.<\/p>\n
Abe served two terms as prime minister to become Japan’s longest-serving premier before stepping down in 2020 citing ill health.<\/p>\n
But he has remained a dominant presence over the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) party, controlling one of its major factions.<\/p>\n
His protege, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, faces an upper house election on Sunday in which analysts say he hopes to emerge from Abe’s shadow and define his premiership.<\/p>\n
Abe has been best known for his signature \u201cAbenomics\u201d policy featured bold monetary easing and fiscal spending.<\/p>\n
He also bolstered defence spending after years of declines and expanded the military\u2019s ability to project power abroad.<\/p>\n
In a historic shift in 2014, his government reinterpreted the postwar, pacifist constitution to allow troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War Two. – Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Japanese former prime minister Shinzo Abe was taken to hospital on Friday after being shot from behind by what appeared to be a man with a shotgun while delivering a speech in the western city of Nara, public broadcaster NHK said. Abe, 67, appeared to be in a state of cardiac arrest, the network said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,2],"tags":[1533,6319],"class_list":["post-100073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-featured","tag-japan","tag-shinzo-abe"],"yoast_head":"\n