The DPJ, which now has majority vote in Japan's upper house, has repeated its opposition to prolonging the law. The ruling bloc and opposition led by the DPJ will hold debates on the issue during a 62-day extraordinary parliamentary session that started on September 10.

Abe said that he quit "to have the war against terror continued," according to a Xinhua News Agency report. He believed that as long as he was prime minister, the opposition leader would not agree to discuss the extension of Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. It would be better for Japan to have a new prime minister pursue the matter, Abe said, adding that he had difficulty in implementing policies and gathering public support.

Gao said that the special antiterrorism law aims to enable Japan's Self-Defense Force to branch out to assist the United States while bypassing the UN - a longtime dream of Abe's. For Abe, the law is essential to realizing his goal of turning Japan into a major political and military power, Gao said. Abe succeeded in having it extended last year. This year, however, he had to pursue it at the cost of his political career when he encountered resistance from the opposition, Gao said.

Political dilemma

Liu Jiangyong, a professor at the Institute of International Studies at Tsinghua University, said Abe's eagerness to prolong the special antiterrorism law was in part derived from his diplomatic concerns. Since Abe assumed power, Japanese-U.S. relations have hit a rough patch by several accounts, Liu said.

Abe's wavering stance on the issue of "comfort women," or women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II, led to the U.S. House of Representatives' adoption of a resolution in June urging Japan to apologize. It was the first such resolution adopted since the end of the war.

Also, Abe has clung to the tough policy that Japan should not provide any assistance to Pyongyang until the issue of North Korea's abduction of Japanese citizens from 1977 to 1983 is resolved. This policy has been inconsistent with the U.S. position at a time when the six-party talks aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear issue are making headway and when relations between Pyongyang and Washington have started to improve, Liu said. Problems would arise in Japanese-U.S. relations if the special antiterrorism law floundered on account of political wrangling at home, Liu said.

Abe's resignation will have little impact on Sino-Japanese relations, Liu said. He noted that Abe's efforts to improve Japan's relations with China and South Korea were widely supported in Japan, while the mishandling of domestic affairs was his main pitfall. So Japan would not fundamentally change its policy toward its Asian neighbors in the wake of Abe's resignation.

Despite being a right-leaning politician in a right-wing political party, Abe had to adjust his stance on the importance of Japan's relations with its Asian neighbors, Liu said. The next Japanese leader would have to be prudent in this regard, no matter what beliefs he may hold. Another reason for this adjustment is that Sino-American relations are improving, and Japan's diplomacy to a large extent hinges on the stance of the United States. At the same time, the mainstream of both the LDP and the JDP favors developing relations with China, Liu said.

Shen of the CIIS echoed Liu's views. He believes that Sino-Japanese relations will continue to improve based on present trends and that Abe's resignation may not bring about significant changes to the LDP and Japan's political landscape.

In light of Abe's achievements in improving ties between China and Japan, Japanese experts hope that the two countries maintain their current momentum. The Untied States also hopes to maintain good relations with China. Asian countries want to see the status quo preserved. Given these factors, Shen is confident about the future of Sino-Japanese relations.

Abe's resignation creates a new opportunity for Japan as well, Shen said. The cabinet scandals woke the general public to the potential problems in the political sphere. Voters will look for a new prime minister who highly values integrity and will impose stricter political standards on him. However, the new prime minister is expected to persist in strengthening cooperation with Asian countries, a policy that is in Japan's interest, Shen said.