Abe's political moves a cause for concern

FOR a leader who is virtually assured of at least three more years of near absolute political power, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gives the impression of being a man in a hurry to push through a political agenda that is looking increasingly controversial. This agenda has shifted quite dramatically in recent weeks from the promotion of Abenomics to something much more political than even the most sensitive of Mr Abe's proposed economic reforms.

His Liberal Democratic Party has pushed through Parliament a Bill to create a US-style National Security Council that will coordinate Japan's reactions in case of military emergencies and other emergencies and also a secrecy law whose rea…