Japan's new nationalist prime minister Shinzo Abe pledged to repair tattered relations with China, bolster his country's long-standing alliance with the United States and overhaul the pacifist constitution after cruising to an easy victory Tuesday in a parliamentary vote.

On foreign relations, Abe said he would try to soothe relations with Asian neighbors, particularly China, and to pursue a permanent seat for Tokyo on the U.N. Security Council.

"I would like to follow a more assertive foreign policy," Abe said. "This does not mean to blindly assert Japan's national interest but to ask what role Japan can play in the region and the world, and what the international community should strive for."

Returning for a second stint as foreign minister, Aso set a summit with China at the top of the agenda.

Japan and China are at odds over interpretations of wartime history, exploitation of maritime resources, and island territories.

Japan's prime minister-in-waiting Shinzo Abe (C) shakes hands with newly appointed executives of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party at the party headquarters in Tokyo September 25, 2006. [Reuters]

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