‘Saddened and shocked’: World leaders react to shooting of former Japanese PM Abe

'Saddened and shocked': World leaders react to shooting of former Japanese PM Abe

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a tweet that “(their) thoughts are with his family and the people of Japan at this time”.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said she believes “everyone is as surprised and sad as (she is)” about the incident.

“On behalf of my government, I would like to severely condemn violent and illegal acts,” she said. 

“Former Prime Minister Abe is not only a good friend of mine, but also a staunch friend of Taiwan’s. He has supported Taiwan for many years and spared no effort to promote the progress of Taiwan-Japan relations.”

An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement, on behalf of the foreign minister, that she has “expressed her sympathies in the name of G20 foreign ministers to the Japanese foreign minister”.

Japan’s former Olympics minister Yoshitaka Sakurada, arriving at the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headquarters in Tokyo, said: “I can’t believe that something like this could happen in the 21st century. 

“There’s still Russia, that was beyond expectations as well, but I can’t believe something like this could happen in Japan.”