As the prime minister of constitutionally pacifist Japan, Shinzo Abe cannot sound belligerent notes—even when his citizens are beheaded by ISIS, as occurred this past weekend. Still, the Financial Times (note: I’m a subscriber and a big fan) may have been overstating the case a bit with its choice of adjective here:
Mr Abe’s response was defiant. “Japan will never give in to terrorism,” he said. “We will further expand our humanitarian assistance in the Middle East in areas such as food and medical care.”
“Defiant?” That’s not exactly “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight…”
