BEIJING — Frequent changes of leaders in the past four years have given Japan a negative image abroad, so Prime Minister Naoto Kan should continue in his post despite the ruling party's setback in Sunday's Upper House election, according to a Chinese scholar.
"Japanese politics looks very unstable. Japan would not win confidence internationally if its prime ministers keep changing every year," Zhou Yongsheng, a professor of Japanese studies at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, recently said.
"A prime minister would need to serve for at least three years if he were to achieve a certain result," Zhou said. "I think it is time for Japan to consider reforming the (political) system to make a prime minister serve for a relatively long time."