Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Wake up call to kasumigaseki

China has criticized human rights activists who call the 2008 Olympics the "Genocide Olympics," saying it is improper to "politicize the Olympic Games." But the Chinese government has been politicizing this event all along.washinton post

President Bush announces new sanctions for Sudan; China proposes more foreign investmentwashinton post

The attitude of these articles are largely in line with the policy of 2007 China military report

But a China expert has a different opinion.

Washington needs to move beyond its Japan-first policy and its orientation towards alliances. Both are outdated and need to be adjusted. Asia's future lies with China and India, not with Japan. Moreover, Japan is afflicted by a mortal wound in its regional identity and influence - the "history" issue. This situation is not good for Japan, for Asia, or for the United States.David Shambaugh
Published: May 29, 2007



The blogger citing this article warns:
Is Japan ready to shift too, or will the government's lack of foresight result once again in a "shock" that leads to a crisis of confidence in Japanese foreign policy and a sudden, unexpected policy shift, rather than one considered in advance?Japan Observer

I should take his professional position into account.
I'm on the staff of a senior member of the opposition DPJlink


DPJ has been warning not to rely on the U.S. too much and engage more with China.
Sure enough it is a matter of balance, and Japan needs to take every possible scenario into account.

It is interesting that some American liberals want Japan to be more side with China because that will probably mean the U.S. will lose the hegemony in this region accordingly.

2 comments:

Yusuke said...

Interesting points raised.

"It is interesting that some American liberals want Japan to be more side with China because that will probably mean the U.S. will lose the hegemony in this region accordingly."

Who are these liberals? and for what reasons would they want to undermine U.S. hegemony in the Asia-Pacific, if that is tantamount to foreiting the ability to protects its economic and strategic interests abroad?

As a sinolophilic Japanese, I tend to agree with Shambaugh:

"the real strategic question for Washington is the balance between military hedging and diplomatic engagement with Beijing. The United States needs to engage more and hedge less... Hedging begets counterhedging by Beijing and, in any event, creates the perception of a semicontainment policy by Washington."

I think many sinologists would agree.

It would be fascinating to see how U.S.'s China policy and Japan's policy shifts after Bush's term ends...

thanks for the interesting posts

Anonymous said...

Many Japanese are expecting the U.S policy will change after Bush's term ends.

China has changed the policy a bit in favor of Japan.(That does not mean China welcome Japan wholeheartedly,though)
Japan is willing to help China in view of envionment and other matters.
And there are a lot of Japanese bussiness people who will welcome the friendly relations with China.

The U.S, under The Democratic Party will be in favor of China.

But the point is how China can settle the human right issues, pollutions, the riots, etc.

What I fear is that Chia might use natinalism to turn the people's eye away from the domestic issue.