Shinzō Abe the North Korean nuclear cards. So far, Abe has successfully visited the Philippines and Indonesia, and although China is not within the Southeast Asian region, Japan has also sought its support. However, relations with China continue to be tarnished by the Senkaku Islands dispute and Abe's visits to Yasukuni shrine (see below). Abe, in his two terms as the prime minister of Japan, sought to upgrade the strategic Japan-India relationship. Abe initiated the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue between Japan, the United States, Australia and India in 2007. His three-day visit to India in August 2007 inaugurated a new bilateral Asian alliance,
2014 Japanese general election re-appointed). The turnout in this election is the lowest in Japanese history. In 2012, the Democratic Party government under Yoshihiko Noda decided to implement a raise of the Japanese consumption tax. Following this move, the Liberal Democratic Party under Shinzo Abe regained control of the Japanese government in the December 2012 general election. Abe proceeded to implement a series of economic programs known as "Abenomics" in a bid to stimulate the economy. Despite these programs, Japan entered a technical recession in mid-2014, which Abe blamed on the consumption tax hike, even though many members of the LDP supported the hike.