Credit:UN/DPI Photo by Eskinder Debebe

Junichiro Koizumi

(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Support for the administration headed by Junichiro Koizumi remains somewhat stable in Japan, according to a poll by Yomiuri. 48 per cent of respondents approve of the cabinet's performance.

Koizumi earned a new four-year mandate in the November 2003 parliamentary election. The prime minister leads a coalition encompassing his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the New Komeito Clean Government Party (Kt) and the New Conservative Party (CP), with 279 lawmakers in the 480-seat House of Representatives.

In December, Koizumi extended the deployment of Japan's Self-Defence Forces—currently participating in non-combat duties in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa—for one more year. Aside from small detachments to East Timor and Cambodia, Japanese soldiers had not been placed in a conflict zone since the end of World War II.

On Apr. 13, Japan announced it would allow oil and gas exploration in waters disputed with China. Koizumi dismissed assertions that the move was related to the current diplomatic rift, saying, "This is a separate matter." Chinese spokesman Qin Gang asked the Japanese government to reconsider, saying Beijing would "retain the right to react further." Yesterday, anti-Japanese protests took place in three Chinese cities.

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