Without Obama, Abe's approach to US-Japan ties may be tested

Tokyo

SINCE becoming prime minister for the second time in 2012, Shinzo Abe has made it a centrepiece of his foreign policy to steer Japan closer to the United States.

Even as Washington has lost ground in the region, with China expanding its presence in the South China Sea and North Korea defying efforts to restrain its nuclear development, Mr Abe has stood by the Obama administration, holding it close.