'Hardliner' Japanese PM's decisive upper house win worrying for China: Analyst

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decisive victory in Sunday's upper house election is worrying immediate neigbhouring nations, including China, an analyst has said.

Dr John Swenson-Wright said that in foreign policy, Japan's immediate neighbours, most notably South Korea and China, worry that Abe may be planning to pursue an aggressively nationalist agenda.

He said that the neighbouring nations fear the agendas include encompassing wartime historical revisionism, abandoning Article 9 (the so-called 'peace clause' of Japan's constitution) and a more belligerent defence of Japan's territorial interests in the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan.

According to the BBC, Wright said Abe's public rhetoric over contentious wartime issues can at times be insensitive and diplomatically ill-judged.

Abe said his win in the upper house elections will help him form a stable cabinet, ending political volatility.

Exit polls suggest his ruling coalition won at least 76 of the 121 seats contested, which would give Abe control of both houses of parliament - a first for a prime minister in six years, the report said.

Abe said the result was an endorsement of his more conservative economic and political reforms.

According to the report, he might also endorse several controversial policies beyond the economy, which include restarting Japan's nuclear reactors, something many in Japan are opposed to.

In the long-term, some believe he may be eyeing revision of Japan's pacifist constitution, including a section which prohibits the use of force in international disputes except for self-defence, the report added.