(CNN) -- Japan's new prime minister on Friday offered the world a vision of his country as a reinvigorated Asian power, pledging to restore its influence in a region where it is increasingly eclipsed by China. "Japan is not, and will never be, a tier-two country," Shinzo Abe said in a speech to members of the US foreign policy establishment, following his first meeting with President Barack Obama. "It is high time, in this age of Asian resurgence, for Japan to bear even more responsibility to promote our shared rules and values." Mr Abe's declaration that "Japan is back" could raise hackles in China, where a new leadership is keen to establish that country as a more dominant political force, befitting its position as Asia's largest economy.
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Japan's new prime minister offered a vision of his country as a reinvigorated Asian power
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Shinzo Abe pledges to restore its influence as it is increasingly eclipsed by China
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Abe in Washington: "Japan is not, and will never be, a tier-two country"
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@placeholder has swapped prime ministers six times since Mr Abe first held the office in a short and scandal-marred tenure from 2006 to 2007.