Saturday, June 30, 2007

Kyuma: Atomic bomb ended the war

UPDATE 2 It is getting more exciting. Kyuma aplogized
for his statement, Abe still defends him, but Ozawa, the leader of the opposing party,demands Abe that Abe should have a meeting with the U.S., asking her to apologize for the indiscriminate bombings on Japan. Abe refuted it in anger.
I hope no skirmishes with the U.S. will happen.

UPDATE It seems the opposing parties will be exploiting his statement to the full. And Abe is defending him-----That make it highly likely that LDP will lose the election and that will be the end of Abe. Abe should have fired him earlier.

TOKYO - Japan's defense minister said the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan during World War II "couldn't be helped," a news report said Saturday.

"The bombing ended the war, and I think that couldn't be helped," Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma was quoted as saying in a speech by Kyodo News agency.

Japan is the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II.AP

As I wrote elsewhere I don't like this guy, but I don't think the article conveys what he is saying.

中日新聞
 久間章生防衛相は30日、千葉県柏市の麗沢大で講演し、先の大戦での米国の原爆投下について「長崎に落とされ悲惨な目に遭ったが、あれで戦争が終わったんだという頭の整理で、しょうがないなと思っている。それに対して米国を恨むつもりはない」と述べた。

 米国が旧ソ連の日本への参戦を食い止めるため原爆を投下した側面があるとの見方を示し「日本が負けると分かっているのにあえて原爆を広島と長崎に落とし、終戦になった。幸い北海道が占領されずに済んだが、間違うと北海道がソ連に取られてしまった」と指摘。

 また「勝ち戦と分かっている時に原爆まで使う必要があったのかどうかという思いは今でもしているが、国際情勢、戦後の占領状態などからすると、そういうことも選択としてはあり得るということも頭に入れながら考えなければいけない」と述べた。
(共同)


"Atomic bombing on Nagasaki was tragic but the war ended with it---that is the perception one must hold in my opinion. I have no grudge against the U.S.

Pointing out the fact there is an aspect that the atomic bombs were used to stop Soviet invasion, " The U.S. dropped the bombs, knowing that Japan would be surely defeated (without them), and the war ended. Fortunately Hokkaido was not occupied; In the worst case Soviet would haven stolen Hokkaido.

I still have a doubt if it was necessary to drop the bombs when the victory (for the allies) was obvious, but we need to take into account the fact that it was one of the plausible optoins, considering then international reality and the state of the post-war occupation.


In my reading, he is not saying his histroical view on whether atomic bombs ended the war, but he is expressing his veiw on how to think about it, how the attitude toward it should be in order not to hold grudge against the U.S.

His thought is confused. You don't need to hold grudge against the U.S. granted that the atomic bombs were strategecally unnecessary and morally wrong.
Rather my guess is that some of his generation has a complex sentiments against the U.S.and so he had to reason confusedly when it comes to the topic that is still hurting him.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Japan to shoot down missiles targeting US

Friday, June 29, 2007 01:17 PM

TOKYO (AP) - Japan should use its missile defense systems to shoot down a ballistic missile targeting the United States, a government panel agreed Friday, according to a news report.

The 13-member panel has been meeting to formulate policy for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on how far Japan's military should be allowed to go to help defend its allies if they come under attack, an issue that could stretch the bounds of its post-World War II pacifist constitution.

"The overall consensus was that it's strange to have a legal system under which Japan cannot do anything. There were no arguments against the position that they (missiles) should be shot down," Kyodo News agency quoted panel member Shinichi Kitaoka as saying.

link

That is what it should be.

That said, despite this good news, I think Abe's life as PM will be short. After all, it seems Foreign dispatches was right; "Abe is a "conservative" in mostly the bad senses of the word". This might be too harsh words, but he should have taken global politics into consideration.
The U.S. and North Korea is approaching to find a way for a reconciliation: North Korea can rely on China less , so North Korea want support from the U.S. and the U.S. wants to use North Korea to fend off China.the land power and the sea power in the world history(Japanese). But he didn't realize it. And he has
played up his rightist ideology too much , loosing sight of realism and pragmatism

Comfort women ;A Korean politician's response to the resolution 121ernational community needs to sanction Japan if she does not follow the resolution

link



金元雄(キム・ウォヌン)議員:「日本軍慰安婦決議案に従わぬなら、制裁措置を発動せよ」

 【2007年06月27日 声明】

 本日、米下院外交委員会が日本軍慰安婦決議案を通過させ、真相を糾明して責任を負うよう日本政府に対して要求したのは、正しい歴史認識であると評価する。

 このたび外交委員会を通過した決議案が速やかに本会議を通過することを希望する。

 決議案採択で要求した事項に日本政府が従わない場合、アメリカなど国際社会は相応の制裁措置を取るべきである。

 国会統一外交通商委員長 金元雄

Thursday, June 28, 2007

It must be bash Japan week.

It Must be ‘Bash Foreign Wives Week’ in Japan

If you’re Japanese, be warned — not only might foreign wives leak naval secrets [Japundit], but they’ll make your kids stink, too! [Debito.org]
{From Marmot's Holes]

The comment sections are alway valuable.
Comment # 3(Japandit)

I don’t know if it still holds true, but I do know that this was the rule back when I was in the Army Security Agency (Army branch of the NSA).

At that time, anyone marrying a foreign national was immediately stripped of their security clearance and transferred to some clerical job that did not involve handling of sensitive information.


2 Joe Says:
June 28th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

I still don’t get the link between smelly kids and foreigners. The article doesn’t provide any relation between the two things at all. Those last few paragraphs have nothing to do with kids’ hygiene…

–QUITE. DEBITO


I don't think it is good idea to transfer officers who are married to non-Japanese nationals and who have access to high-level military secrets, and I blame the father who said, "“If Japan had won that war, they’d all (Filipinos) be speaking Japanese by now.” though.

Japanese media on resolution 121

Asahi
PM face the serious consequence of the resolution

....There is no denying that the there are questionable points in the resolution. The resolution does not mentions the fact that Japanese Prime Minsters have sent the letters of apologies nor does it pay sufficient attention to the Kono's statement in which Japan admitted the military involvement in the system.

But as the resolution says, it is a fact that there was a movement to criticize Kono's statement and to revise the description of textbook. We need sincerely accept the message of the resolution that accuses the brutality of comfort women system.....

Asahi also blame the Ad in the WaPo


Yomiuri
Cut out the root of the misunderstandings by the US resolution.

So called resolution concerning the war time comfort women are based on the misunderstanding of the facts......there were women who were forced to work as a comfort woman in the hands of the brokers, but that is different from military recruiting the women forcibly......What is the resolution based on? It is based on the Kono's statement in which there were cases where military and officials are involved in the forced recruitment. .....Abe said he stood by Kono's statement, but if the misunderstanding are rooted in the Kono's statement, we should feel no hesitation to revise it


Mainich
The resolution 121, there is a problem with Abe's diplomacy too.

....Abe stands by Kono's statement.....It is regrettable that the committee passed the resolution regardless of that fact.

Mainich also blames the Ad on the WaPo and Abe's statement to the effect that there is no evidence to show "coercion" in the narrow sense.

Note that none of them are satisfied with the resolution.
But Ashahi and Mainich emphasize the faults of Abe and the Ad on WaPo.
Youmiuri thinks Kono's statement is the root of the all the evil.

I don't necessarily think Kono's statement was wrong, nor do I think it needs
revision. If I had to revise it, I would add that Japanese military didn't recruit the women forcibly as a matter of policy and and Japanese police regulated illegal brokers, despite that, Japan es were responsible for the fact many women were deceived and some are forcibly recruited by the brokers.
It is easy to blame Abe and the Ad because they did nothing but fueling the controversy, and I think they should be blamed , but Asahi and Mainich also should note there are other political forces going on in the international community. Without realizing it, another hundreds of apologies will not end this issue.

Concept

On beauty
why act morally and the meaning of life
Moral relativism
Moral relativism 2
Moral Relativism 3
jural relation"
Hakanasa
On political power
Alan Watts' Self
Buddhism 's self
Taoist's consept of self
Batailles ' longing for the death of the separate self
topic of my interest
a Marx's perspective
love and maturity
love and reason
Truth and Perspective
therapeutic-aspect-of-hisory
Metaphor
Pleasure

Japanese nationalists

A Japanese blogger, The diary of International debates blames a politician Hiranuma for supporting the Ad in WaPo. Just as when Hiranuma refused to support the Prime Minister's plans to privatize Japan Post and he was not endorsed by the Liberal Democratic Party in the 11 September 2005 election" wiki, he seems to be a man who ends up with defeated over trifle matters. He is not an evil man: he means well, but that makes him more unmanageable. Without the Ad in question, everything was supposed to turn out all right.

I must agree.

Regretably it seems some of Japanese nationalists are just content with themselves, not knowing the consequences of their actions on the international stage. Reading some of the comment sections on some Japanese blogs, I must admit some of them are morons.

Comfort women; Chinese organization behind the scene

Members of the Global Alliance for Preserving the History of World War II in Asia, the Chinese Americans for Democracy in Taiwan and others met in a Chinese restaurant today to encourage support for House Resolution 121, introduced by Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose)......

Chang and Ding also suggested that if Lantos, who represents a district that is 33 percent Asian-American, can't communicate with them, than perhaps it's time for new representation.

The group backed their threat with demographic numbers from the 12th California District and election results that they feel lend support for putting up their own candidate to run against Lantos in the 2008 election.

Ding said he is "totally puzzled'' by the treatment they have received from Lantos' office. "He has been good to us, until recently,'' Ding said.

Ding said the groups have several candidates in mind, including one well-qualified Asian-American woman, who he declined to name.

Bay City News/魚拓

The Global Alliance for Preserving the History of World War II in Asia for Chinese name is 世界抗日戦争史実維護総合会 It is exclusively dedicated to the perseverance of war-history against Japan.
It is an organization which supported Iris Chan's "rape of Nanjing": Some a historian calls it a fictitious; Other historians " stressed that the book was seriously flawed. Fogel was disturbed by Chang's repeated denunciations of an alleged Japanese mentality." If their mission is to preserve historical truth, I think they had better use right historians.

Besides, though it is good to remind Japan of the past atrocity, isn't it also good to remind, say,China and Korea, of their past atrocity? Surely they need to be reminded of, say, cultural revolution, massacre in Vietnam War etc.,because they tend to forget it.
The limited mission of the organization makes me wonder what their real political agenda is.

See also Korean
Americans behind the scene


UPDATE
ホンダ議員、慰安婦決議採択直後に明言 中国系団体が主導cash

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Rumor

It is rumored that Japanese blog ranking system such as this is a fake. The top places are always occupied by the right wingers' blogs. I don't know how they actually do it but it is said it has something to do with links and automatic clicking. Anyway I don't think the blogs ranked high are so popular among Japanese, nor do I think their contents are always trustworthy. .



via Net guerrilla(Japanese)

Comfort women; Non-Native-Japanese blogger's responses to House Resolution 121

Liberal Japan
Marmot's Hole
ROK drops
Occidentalism

Anpontan
Scribblings of the Metropolitan
Observing Japan
Transpacifi Radio
Debito blog


Most sophisticated article is that of Liberal Japan. As always he is self-critical in that he also pay attention to the case of his own country, the U.S.
In this sense Marmot and Anpontan, metro-politician are fair too.Rokdrops is also fair and suggestive.
Occidentalism approaches the issue in a way that is usually hidden for the English speaking people.
Observing Japan and Transpacific Radio preach that Japan has something to learn---truism but surely Japan has something to learn form the issue.
Debito is just repeating Korean-American claim.

Comfort women; Korean Americans behind the scene.

The Korean-American Community
Most interlocutors stated that the Korean-American community has very little
effect on U.S.-ROK relations, with the exception of a concerted lobbying effort
around the World War II “comfort women”/“sex slave” issue. Some elements of
the Korean-American community had become more active in promoting the North
Korean Human Rights Act, according to interlocutors, but these groups were
generally seen as representing only a small portion of the Korean-American
community. That said, those interviewed stated that though these groups were
small, they had convinced a number of members that their views were consistent
with those of most in the Korean-American community.CSIS Report

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Lantos, to Cosponsor H.Res.121121coalition

See also North Korea behind the scene

A Japanese blogger, (外交と安全保障をクロフネが考えてみた/Thoughts on diplomacy and security by Kurofune) asks who will get most by this resolution---China and North Korea:they desparately need to give a crack on the U.S. -Japan alliance.
Come to think of it, it was Chinese organizatio, 世界抗日戦争史実維護連合会who donated Honda and and run the ad in the NYT protesting the Japanese attitude toward the comfort women.

「慰安婦」追及のホンダ議員 中国系の献金突出

Now it seems obvious who are the real players.

感謝したい人は大勢いるが、徐教授にとっては米議会で慰安婦問題を初めて議題化したエバンス前議員こそ、その人だ。2000年に慰安婦問題で初めて出会った2人は長年の友人であり、今は恋人同士だ。


■「慰安婦キャンペーン中止すべき」

「アメリカで得た貴重な勝利を守るために、カナダ国内での慰安婦関連活動を直ちに
中断しなければなりません。」

慰安婦問題で長年闘争してきた朴ウルマさん(74)は、従来の立場を翻し、カナダ国
内での慰安婦決議案通過を求める活動を全面中断すべきだと主張した。

第二次大戦当時の日本軍慰安婦強制動員に関して日本政府が公式に認めて謝罪
し、歴史的責任を負うよう要求する慰安婦決議案(HR121)が、先月30日にアメリカの
連邦下院を満場一致で通過したことで、カナダでの決議案(M291)通過が力を得てい
る。

これについて朴さんは、「アメリカでの決議案通過は、韓民族全体の勝利だ」とした
うえで、「日本政府と密接な関係にあるカナダで勝算ない喧嘩をする必要がない」と
訴えた。朴さんは更に、「カナダで優勢な日本に戦場を提供して、決議案が通過でき
ない不祥事でも起きたら、アメリカの同胞たちが10年にわたって日本と熾烈な戦争
を繰り広げた末に得た勝利が相殺されてしまう」と力説した。

朴さんはカナダ国内の慰安婦支持勢力について、「韓国人は利用されているだけ」
と主張した。「中国は慰安婦問題を、『南京虐殺』の争論化のために利用している。
各政党の支持も、慰安婦否決議案に微温的な態度を見せる保守党を攻撃するため
の政治的工作でしかない」と批判した。最近、連邦緑の党が決議案採択支援に参
加し、連邦新民主党(NDP)と自由党は以前から支持を表明している。

「(アメリカと違って)長年にわたってこの事案に関わって闘争してきた人は、カナダ
国内にはいない」という朴さんは、「決議案通過可否が分かる11月になれば、挺身
隊対策協議会も持続できなくなるだろう」と予想した。

朴さんは、「これ以上、利用しようとする勢力に引っ張りまわされてはいけない。カ
ナダ国内で勝算の無い争いを続けて紛争点を作ってはいけない」と強調した。朴さ
んは、「今は、脱北女性問題など他の主要事項に力を傾けるべき時だ」として、「同
胞たちの賢明な判断と参加を望む」と付け加えた。

▽ソース:米州韓国日報(韓国語)

Monday, June 25, 2007

Some Japanese bloggers are preparing to counterattack against the resolution 121.

Some Japanese bloggers are starting to prepare to counterattack the resolution 121. Basically it seems they want to say that
(1)the resolution is not based on the facts,
(2)the U.S. and the Korean government should also face the facts where they had the same system under the U.S. occupation in Japan and Korea but they have never issued apologies.

As an example of (1) see Nishimura's
酔夢ing voice
(English letter attached)


As an example of (2), see 博士の独り言(I have no time to translate but basically it presents the facts *with testimonies and official documents in line with Yuki Tanaka, but more detailed than Tanaka.)

Other Japanese bloggers who have experiences living abroad are a bit critical about the movement. Not that they are against the movement itself, but they are critical about the way the movement is being carried out.For instance, 国際討論日記・The diary of International debates criticizes the Ad in WaPo in that it resulted in strengthening anti-Japanese groups.
大韓ニダの介の韓国研究・Korea studies by Daikan nidanosuke argues that
people who attack Korean claim seems to be desperately unprepared .

I reserve the judgement but I think the wordings in (1) by Kase definitely needs correction to be accepted by international society.

MOFA

Robert Dujarric: Japan needs its own experts in Washington
MOFA sucks as ever. ̄\(-_-;)/ ̄

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Comfort women: on the term "sex slave"

I personally do not care what to call "comfort women" under Japanese rule and under the US occupation in Japan and Korea and under Korean rule after the "liberation".
But here is an interesting discussion on whether it is appropriate to call such women as "sex slave"
>When describing women forcibly confined for the purposes of sexual
>exploitation, why would the terms "slavery" or "sex slaves" be inappropriate?

Assuming that the Atlantic slave trade is the type of slavery most English
speakers will be at least dimly aware of , AND this is what writers who use
the term slavery or sex slaves are trying to link the Japanese case to, the
reasons for not applying the term slavery to either the comfort women or to
forced laborers include

1) not permanent

2) not heritable

3) not race based

4) no religious backing for the system

5) no asset value

6) no market based trading

7) no civil legal or institutional structure to return and/or penalize
those who left

8) wages promised, and at least in the early stages, actually paid.

9) gender specific

10) social mobility (it is known that some women moved from labor to
management and became brothel operators)

And, many other lesser points.

There are, of course, many definitions of slavery. The one I'm using is
chattel slavery. This is the form of slavery that Americans >should< know
something about. And, it is presumably the form of slavery with which the
term slavery in the Pacific War context is meant to resonate. Other types
of slavery have existed or continue to exist, but I rather doubt that many
readers of the US newspapers that have prominently carried articles about
the "sex slaves" are familiar with, for example, slavery in Arab cultures.

I am further presuming that when people use the term "sex slaves," they are
not trying to link the comfort women to sadomasochistic practices where the
term is part of the standard vocabulary. (Assuming you have your Net Nanny
turned off, you can verify this for yourself by doing a search on -"comfort
women" +"sex slaves" +porn).

Having given a number of reasons for not using the term, allow me to ask
why it should be used. What's wrong with forced labor? Is there a good,
non-racist, non-ethnocentric reason for using an exceedingly vague and
highly inflammatory term in this context?Earl Kinmonth /NBR'S JAPAN FORUM (POL

via ステージ風発

One in five Korean kid believe the Korean war was fought between Korea and Japan.

According to a recent survey by a local monthly magazine, one in every five children described the war as one that occurred between Korea and JapanKorea times

some people oppose Park's assertion. They said that the education must reflect a social trend and it is natural that the children would be less aware of the situation.

Sure, sure, it is reflecting social trend pretty well.
An elementary teacher said that students do not relate to the war since more than 50 years have passed and society has changed drastically.

Huhhhhhhh?????? Japanese colonization took place more than 60 years ago.

No wonder Korean people do not know about the Korean comfort women during Korean War who suffered in the same way Korean comfort women under Japanese women. All they know about them is they are "western whores."
Is "Hypocrite" too strong a word for them?

And look at how they teach the Korean war to the student:They are victims again sandwiched by the great powers.

Blame everything on Japan and the US, forget everything wrongs Korea did---Life and politics are as simple as that!!! That is how you learn to stop worrying and love Korea.-----That's Korean wisdom----a kind of ?

update
see also Marmot

Korean wave and anti-Korean wave

I happened to work in a media which is considered to be one of the main engine of Korean wave in Japan.And I can safely say that the whole stuff was pretty much planned to boost the friendly atomosphere toward Korea and by seizing the momentum of 98 Obuchi-Kim summit(in theory that was the end of all tha apology diplomacy….)and 2002 world cup and 2005 Japan/Korea friendship year,turn the two countries relation into new phase.
Koreans agreed to open the contury for the Japanese culture inch by inch(though as of year 2007,it is still not allowed to broadcast Japanese language on ground wave,which means no J-pops and J-dramas,but only on cable TV),they were pretty worried about “cultural invasion”and to make Korean feel that the road goes both way,GoJ was asked very vauguly to promote Korean culture in Japan and NHK and Dentsu stood for the task.And there you have Kusanagi Tsuyoshi of SMAP learning Korean language and become “Choe Nang Kang” and NHK satellites(and ground wave)showered “Winter Sonata”endlessly to the nation.Coincidentally it was the time of renaissance in Korean cinema and there were a few good films.So there you have it.Korean wave.
At first Korean were pretty gentle.I mean afterall it was quasi cultural exchange like mission that nobody felt it would be a phoenomenon.and then things starts to slip after Yonsama become nation wide sensation.And even though Korean wave is a nitche genre in Japan,there is a working copyright protection scheme in this country.So Korean company could raise fairly good amount of money for sales on DVD unlike Hallyu boom in Mongolia or Vietnam.So they become ambitious.Start to place ripoff price for the product which eventually led to the bubble.There are fan of Korean entertainment remaining and continue to exist in this country,but I don’t think there will be any gold rush like the past few years without the help of J-media powerhouse’s muscle,of which was the true dynamo of the Korean Wave.

Now what GI Korea had said about Chosen Ilbo and Joongang Ilbo.Many of my colleague thinks they are nothing but a trash.Since they are not as anti-American like Hankyoreh,GI may have modest idea about the two.But I see little or no difference in it’s quality,especially when it comes to Japan related article.I have no idea why these editors wanted to put the Japanese version on the web.But because of the Yahoo Japan,these Korean paper’s articles with full of anti-Japanese sentiment inside are shown to Japanese through Yahoo news everyday.The Japanese youth who read these paper’s(and another national daily Donga Ilbo’s)Japanese edition on the web start to rear strong anti-Koreanism of which was none existent in this country.(there were prejuduce to zainichi Koreans before but that is mostly deteriorated due to the fact that most are not regarded as foreigners anymore,so the target of the prejudice had shifted to other foreigners like Chinese or Brazilian migrant workers).
So I wouldn’t surprise Korean wave cannot find fans in new generation.Aceface/Anpontan


This is the best explanation for Korean wave, for that matter, anti-Korea wave in Japan I have ever read in English.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

The Korean War in Korean history textbook

From History Lessons page 275-276

North Korea(Junior high)(Pyongyang;Textbook Publishing Co.2000)


The troop of the People's Army defeated the American bastards over and over again on every battle field. Cornered in a dead end , the American bastards didn't know what to do . The quick-tempered Americans finally signed the armistice on July 27th of the Juche calender(1953) and kneeled down before the Chosun people. His excellency our great leader Kim Il-sung gave the following instructions:

The American invaders finished by kneeling down before our Chosun People. We bent the pride of the Americans who used to boast of being the world's most powerful nation and for the first time in history. we brought the beginning of their decay. This victory will forever shine in the Chosun People's combat history, and will be an inspiration to the combat of all the people around the world.

The great victory of having beaten the Americans, this proud triumph and honor of our people, was the glorious accomplishment of our great leader.



South Korea(Senior High Dae. Han Textbook Co. 2001, 199-200)

The National Army and the UN forces began to fight back beginning in August of 1950, turning the tide of the war in our favor with the success of Inch'eon landing operations. On the 28th of September, Seoul was recovered and soon after the battle-line was pushed beyond the 38 parallel northstar. The National Army and the UN forces invaded Pyongyang. and the winter marched onward toward the Ab-rock river. The dearest wish of unification was about to realized when the Chinese intervened forcing the National Army and the UN forces to draw back to an are south of the Han river. But a counterattack was soon prepared and the war came to a deadlock around the 38 parallel.[....]
The struggle see-sawed to and fro and in the midst of it the communists' army asked for an armistice through the mediation of Soviet UN representatives. Our government and our people , fearing that such a treaty would lead to perpetual division of the Korean peninsula and its people, disagreed to this offer of the communists. Consequently, nation wide demonstrations condemning the armistice were held. But against the desire of our people to unify our country. an armistice was signed between the UN forces and the communist army in 1953.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Communism in Japan

Communism Is Alive and Well and Living in Japan/TIME
Hmmm, didn't people abroad know it? It is not just communist party but there are still many people in DPJ who used to be members of Socialist parties. Even I used to love Marxist thinkers. I still love some of them. But I dislikes their style of working out politics. They often go against realism and national interests. They want world revolution, they want to topple the regime at the risk of damaging Japan. They used to trust North Korea but didn't trust Japanese government. They tend to tilt toward China rather than the US.
I am not fan of LDP and we need a healthy opposing party. But I don't like idealists who has no sense of reality.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Chinese diplomacy.

http://megalodon.jp/?url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070620/wl_nm/china_japan_dc_1&date=20070621095351
China's Hu highlights hopes for Japan ties....Tue Jun 19, 11:16 PM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao held out hopes for closer ties with Japan, state media reported on Wednesday, notably underplaying tensions over history and territorial claims. .....Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who led the delegation that Hu greeted, was upbeat.

"Now relations between the two countries are advancing from a springtime to a summertime," Nakasone said.yahoo

yahoo h news 魚拓

Chinese politicians are smart and pragmatic.
Some Japanese politicians should lean from them.
Japanese politicians should learn what to ignore and what to pay attention to.
The real issue is Japan's security.
Chinese politicians used history card to prevent Japan from getting the seat in UNSC. When it was over, they controlled their people's voice.
What are Japanese politicians trying to do by accusing the mistakes in description of the Chinese claim on Nanjing massacre?
Japanese honor?----Do they want to say Japanese honor is back if the death toll in Nanjing massacre was less than China claims? ----There is nothing wrong with debating the death toll among historians, but leave history to historians, do what it takes to be a politician.

.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Chinese factory of slave


UPDATE I have found the article in English.

REUTERS
Published: June 18, 2007




BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained 168 people accused of involvement in slavery that trapped victims in scorching brick kilns, state media said on Monday, as outrage over official complicity rippled through the usually tame press.

Of those held, 48 were caught in Shanxi province and the rest in neighboring Henan, where hundreds of teenagers and poor farmers, and even some children, were trapped or cheated into kilns, mines and foundries, the China Daily reported.

The unfolding scandal has stained the ruling Communist Party's promises to build a "harmonious" society with better rights and income for hundreds of millions of poor farmers.

Local news media have been unusually blunt in demanding answers from the government and calling for resignations.

The Southern Metropolis Daily, a popular tabloid, said the same local officials who were now parading themselves as rescuers of trapped workers had long turned a blind eye to the trade.

"Who'll assume responsibility for this crime that has lasted for over a decade?," asked the paper.

"In many countries, a scandal like this would be enough to spark a major political crisis and crisis of confidence. But here in China to date there's not even a hint of resignations."

State television has reported that owners of primitive brick kilns ran their operations like prisons, making use of fierce dogs and thugs who beat minors. One owner accidentally killed a child with a shovel and buried the body at night, state TV said.

Some workers were shown with festering wounds, presumably from burns from the kilns where they worked for little or now pay.

The government has sent a team to investigate the abuses and given freed workers -- more than 500 so far -- 1,000 yuan ($130) each as "sympathy" money, the Beijing News reported.

But many reports have dwelt on local government complicity in the abuses. One of the kiln owners detained, Wang Bingbing, was the son of the village Communist Party secretary. And critics say the trade could not have survived without official collusion.

"The dereliction of local government departments and even collusion between officials and criminals is plain to see," said one local newspaper commentary reproduced on the Web site of the People's Daily (www.people.com.cn).

Other critics said the abuses highlighted the disintegration of local government in the countryside.

"The state's control over the countryside and farmers has weakened," said the Guangzhou Daily. "In some towns and villages a power vacuum has emerged and criminal forces have seized the opportunity to flourish and dominate."

($1=7.624 Yuan)New York Times

See also China arrests alleged slave-boss amid outrage
Man accused of forcing dozens of teen and adults into hard labor/MSnbc

米流時評


 【北京16日時事】中国の胡錦濤国家主席や温家宝首相らは、山西省の闇経営のれんが工場で誘拐された子供や労働者が過酷な労働を強制させられた事件に衝撃を受け、徹底した救出と捜査を指示した。胡指導部は、「21世紀の奴隷工場」と呼ばれるこの人権侵害事件に対し、国内メディアも利用して全容を明らかにする異例の対応を取り、中国社会に存在する「暗部」を徹底的に根絶しようとの決意を表した。
 事件では河南省などの1000人以上の子供がれんが工場に誘拐されたとされ、中国紙の報道によると、山西、河南両省の公安当局は16日までに548人の労働者や未成年者を救出。山西省共産党委員会は15日、今後7~10日間ですべての労働者らの救出を終えなければ、市・県の幹部を職務怠慢などで処分すると強く指示した

quick translation:
[Beijing June 16 jiji press] Shocked by the incident of the underground factory of the brick at the northern Shanxi, Chinese Chairman Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao ordered to rescue the children and workers abducted and investigate the case, Wen took an exceptional measures; he even used the domestic media to investigate the whole matter. He expressed the determination to exterminate this 21 century slave factory. It is assumed that over 1000 children were kidnapped at places like Henan. According to Chinese report, so far 548 workers and minors were rescued by the police. Shanxi Communist Party committee said if the rescue was not accomplished within 7 to 10 days, it would punish an executive officers of the city and prefecture for neglect of duty



jijicom
AFP魚拓
AFP魚拓
via 博士の独り言

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Comfort women issue ; North Korea behind the scene ?

I was aware that one of China's purpose in campaigning against Japan was to put an wedge between Japan - U.S. Alliance. China does not pick up Britain for the target regardless of its humiliating relation in history with China, because geopolitically Britain has little effects now on China, but the US -Japan alliance is a vital obstruct for the rise of China.
Note that one of the biggest organization that donates representative Honda is anti-Japan Chinese organization. See Sankei(Japanese)

Abiru, a Sankei journalist, points out in his personal blog the possibility of North Korea acting behind the scene in South Korean anti-Japan campaign, based on the new book by Nishioka on the comfort women.
In the book Nishioka points out the fact that some family and relatives of members of Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, who keep accusing Japan for the issue despite several apologies, were arrested as the spies for North Korea. Abiru says you can not account for all the anti-Japan-ism in South Korea by that, but the possibility of North Korea's involvement behind the scene should be kept in mind/it is vital for North Korea to give a crack on Japan-South Korea alliance. I think the possibility can not be denied just as a conspiracy theory.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Hohfeld's scheme of 'jural relation"

opposites
right...privilege... power...immunity

no right... duty... disability... liability

correlatives
right... privilege... power...immunity

duty...non-right...liability...diability


So for instance X has a right(claim) that Y should stay off his land, X himself has the privilege (liberty) of entering on the land. X does not have a duty to stay off.

It has been criticized, for instance, that not all duty necessarily confer the right
on the other party, e.g., a duty to observe the rules of roads does not mean a specific person has a correlative right to my performing the duty, a teacher has certain duties towards his students, but it does not necessarily confer any rights upon them.

That said, it is still useful scheme.

update
Hofheld's cocnept of right

Hofheld dihtisnuigsed right from lirebty, and power from imnumity—copnects that are often used ibtenrhacneagly in non-tecchinal dirsoucse, but are pliholospihacly dirfefent. By enaximing the rehatiolnsips between these copnects, he hoped to eplxain the legal istenerts that have evovled in the real world of civil society and to anwser the question whether citizens of a state have any right to access any of the pobsisle forms of social serucity. ~ Right and duty are colrerative copnects, i.e. one must always be matched by the other. If A claims a right anaigst B, this is meaningless ulness B has a duty to honor A's right. If B has no duty, that means that B has lirebty, i.e. B can do wvateher he or she pseales because B has no duty to rerfain from doing it, and A has no right to pborihit B from doing so. An ivdinidual would be corniseded to have pefrect lirebty if no one has a right to pverent the given act. ~ Power means the cacapity to create legal rehatiolnsips and to create rihgts and liabilities. The colrerative of power is liability. If A has power over B, B must have liability torawds A. For epaxmle, proreply cosntituted courts have the power to pass jundgemts that impose liabilities but, if the denefnadts are outside the courts' jucirsidtion, the jundgemts are ubennofreacle. Sirimally, a leligsature has power to make laws, but those laws that attempt to rertsict a funnademtal right may be unnonctitutiosal. If the laws are valid, they create a dilasibity; the legal opsopite of dilasibity is power. So, crihlden or people surfefing from a mental disability should be pcoterted from liability and their power to make a bidning cortnact is revomed. A pesron loses the right to sue ahotner to revocer a debt if the period of limitation has eprixed. ~ The legal ospopite of liability is imnumity. In some countries, gomevrnent denaptremts esexricing soreveign powers cannot be sued in tort and the Pderisent or the Prime Misinter cannot be pelrosanly liable in repsect of any cortnact made or arnusasce given for the pusropes of the state. These are elaxmpes of inmumities.

Ahtlough the word right is often used to derscibe lirebty, power, or inmumity, Hofheld creally dihtisnuigsed them. Idneed, Hofheld debscired lirebty as an a priori codnition of the rule of law, coming into enixtesce long before any Bill of Rihgts and orfefing an ivdinidual power to the extent that it is not rectsirted by any law. Elsestianly, Hofheld bevieled that anyone who tries to erncoach on the lirebty of a citizen must be reruiqed to deromstnate their clear right to do so. After more than eihgty years of codniseration, some doubt whether this set of cocneptual rehatiolnsips is pliholoshicaply subtaisanle. But, the core justaxopition of right, duty and lirebty remains a secudtive agmurent.wiki

The U.S. Realism and Idealism toward Pacific War(3)

The U.S. Realism and Idealism toward Pacific War(1)
The U.S. Realism and Idealism toward Pacific War(2)

Mearsheimer 's analysis

page 136 Japan did not invade any part of the United States, and japanese leaders certainly gave no thought to conquering it, Japan merely sought to establish an empire in the western Pacific by capturing the various islands located between it and Hawaii. Japan also initiated wars against Russia in 1904 and in 1939 but in neither case did Japan invade Russia or even think about conquering it. Instead, those fights were essentially for control of Korea , Manchuria, and Outer Mongolia.

page 179 By the end of World War Ⅰ the United State felt that Japan was getting too big for its britches , and it set out to rectify the situation. At the Washington Conference in the winter of 1921-22, the United States forced Japan to accept three treaties that effectively reversed Japan's gains in China during World War put limits on the sizes of the American, British and Japanese navies. These treaties included much rhetoric about the need for cooperation in future crises and the importance of maintaining the political status quo in Asia.


page 259 The fall of France in June 1940 and the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 fundamentally altered the balance of power in northeast Asia. Germany's quick and decisive victory over France in the last spring of 1940 greatly reduced, if not eliminated, French influence on Japanese behavior in Asia . Indeed the defeat of France as well as of the Netherlands left their empires in South Asia vulnerable to japanese attack, With France out of the war, the United Kingdom stood alone against Nazi Germany in the west. But the British army was in shambles


page 221 As Paul Schroeder notes, "the United States did not seriously consider stopping the Japanese advance by force of arms, or consider Japan as an actual enemy, until the Far Easter war had become clearly linked with the far greater...war in Europe. In particular , it was "opposition to Hitler which began to condition American policy in the Far East more than any other factor"


If Japan conquered Southeast Asia, it could shut down a considerable portion of the outside aid flowing China , which would increase Japan's prospects of winning its war there. And if Japan controlled China and Southeast Asia as well as Korea and Manchuria, it would dominate most of Asia. The United States was determined to prevent that outcome, and thus in the summer of 1940 it began working hard to deter further Japanese expansion.

page 222
Japan was anxious to avoid a fight with the United States, so it moves cautiously in southeast Asia. ....
German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, however, fundamentally altered relations between Japan and the United States and sent them to hurtling down the road to war. Most American policymakers, ..believed that the Wehrmacht was likely to defeat the Red Army, thus making Germany the hegemon in Europe. A Nazi victory would also have left japan at the hegemon in Asia , since the Soviet Union was the only great power with an army in Asia that could check Japan. Thus if the Soviet lost to the Germans , the Unites States would have found itself confronting hostile hegemons in Asia as well as Europe. Not surprisingly , the United States was bent on avoiding that nightmare scenario, which meant that the Soviet Union had to survive the German onslaught of 1941 as well as any future German offensive


...page 223 the United States employed massive coercive pressure against Japan to transform it into second rate power.
The United States was well positioned to coerce Japan. On the eve of World War Ⅱ、Japan imported 80 percent of its machine tools and almost 75 percent of its scrap iron from the United States. This dependency left japan vulnerable to an American embargo that could wreck Japan's economy. ...
The embargo left Japan with two terrible choices: cave in to American pressure and accept a significant dimunition of its power, or go to war against the United States, even though an American victory was widely agreed to be the likely outcome. Not surprisingly , Japan's leader tried to cut a deal with the United States in the late summer and fall of 1941. They said that they would be willing to evacuate their troops from Indochina once a "just peace" was reached in China, and they maintained that they would be willing to pull all Japanese troops out of China within twenty-five years after peace broke out between China and Japan. But U.S. policymakers stuck their guns and refused to make any concessions to the increasingly desperate japanese. The United States had no intention of allowing Japan to threaten the Soviet Union either in 1941 or later in the war. In effect, the Japanese would be defanged either peacefully or by force, and the choice was theirs.
Japan opted to attack the United States, knowing full well that it would probably lose, but believing that it might be able to hold the United States at bay in a long war and eventually force it to quit the conflict. ..
page 224 they were willing to take that incredibly risky gamble, however, because caving in to American demands seems to be an even worse alternative....Sagan put the point well" ....if one examines the decisions made in Tokyo in 1941 more closely one finds not a thoughtless rush to national suicide, but rather a prolonged agonizing debate between two repugnant alternative."


Mearsheimer, unlike Kennan and Kissinger, talks less about idealism; his focus is how actually great powers worked (and will work.)

It is interesting to see how the influential diplomats' and professor's views of Pacific War started is different from many Americans' view on it I often see in the comments on the Internet.

.................................................................................
page 103 When the American bombing campaign against Japan began in late 1944, the initial goal was to use high-explosive bombs to help destroy Japan's economy, which was being wrecked by the U.S. navy's blockade. It quickly became apparent, however , that his air power strategy would not seriously damage Japan's industrial base. Therefore, in March 1945, the United States decided to try instead to punish Japan's civilian population by firebombing cities. This deadly aerial campaign, which lasted until the war ended five months later, destroyed more than 40 percent of japan's 64 largest cities, killed approximately 785,000 civilians, and forced about 8,5 million people to evacuate their homes.

page Why did Japan continue to hold out? ....Japanese policy makers refused to accept unconditional surrender because they thought that it was possible to negotiate an end to the war that left Japan's sovereignty intact. ...The threat of costly victory , they reasoned, would cause the United States to be more flexible on the diplomatic fro. Furthermore, Japanese leaders hoped that the Soviet Union ,would mediate the peace talks and help produce an agreement short of unconditional surrender.

page 93 The final straw was the Soviet decision to join the war against Japan on August 8. 1945......Japan was now at war with both the Soviet Union and the United STate.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Some insights on political power by Searl

Searl's analysis
Power is the ability to make people do whether they like it or not.
(Leadership is the ability to make people want to do something they would not otherwise have want to do.)

Political power is deontic power such as rights, duties, obligations, requirement, commitment, authorization, permission, privileges, authority, which functions in virtue of the collective acceptance that the object has that status and that the status carries the function with it.


Political conflict is a conflict over social goods, and many of these social goods include deontic powers.

A monopoly on armed violence is an essential presupposition of government.

Freedom and Neurobiology: Reflections on Free Will, Language, and Political Power by John Searle

In truth, the core of Searl's argument in the book is to explain the social facts philosophically, but that is not my concern here and now. I thought his analysis on political power was very clear and useful.

I am not sure if Searl has international relations in mind, but it is interesting to note that the war is fought over the territory, resources such as oil, raw materials, market, security interest etc, and the right to them, or the right to access to them. (Of course, that does not mean all the war was caused by the conflicts over these items, though.)

...................................................................................
+
A key feature of liberal culture is the so called public/private sphere divide. This establishes a strict separation between public sphere of life regulated by collective rules and subjected to political authority, and a private sphere in which people are free to do as they like.
page 196 "political ideologies" Andrew heywood.

.....................................................................
Conflict/ R.J. Rummel

power/interest/R.J. Rummel

David vs Debito and the articles about Japan

David McNeill and Debito Arudou are both outspoken critics of Japanese society.

Criticising Japanese society will enrich Japanese society. I welcome them.

In my impression David McNeill is a leftist liberal. There are many points I disagree with him. I But I love an different perspective. And he is trying to be fair

Debito arudou is a self-proclaimed human activist. In a society like Japan where there is little chance for the minority to voice their sentiment, opinion, he is playing an important role. (But sometimes I feel, from the way he writes, he is a preacher who just want publicity)

(In this regard, overthinker
and Anpontan also deserve attention. Their writings are by far interesting and intellectual with their sufficient knowledge of Japan and different cultural background. )

There is nothing wrong depicting the dark side of Japan. Japanese newspaper like Asahi is always doing that. And there are variety of opinions among Japanese. In case of Japanese media, there are always people who will check and criticize the articles.
The battles between Asahi and Sankei are fun.

Journalists abroad often write articles about Japan quite irresponsibly. See buyo
In case of English articles, there is little chance to rebuttal, Besides, in English articles, there are cases where it is not just difference of opinions but journalists lack the minimum amounts of knowledge of Japan and too lazy to check the fact and often write the article with prejudice.
This might hold for Japanese journalism about abroad.

To demand complete fairness to journalist might be too much, or it might be impossible in the first place but let's culture the eye to read the article critically.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Aso blamed by AFP


Aso rejects girl's passport plea
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's foreign minister on Tuesday rejected a 16-year-old's impassioned plea to have a passport embossed with her father's surname, not that of her mother's abusive former husband.

I think this article is a bit misleading.

The law says children born within 300 days of the mother divorcing her husband should be recognised as those of the former spouse.

True, it should be changed, and it is the diet who is responsible for changing.

"I don't want to go on the school trip with the passport bearing the name of a man who would beat up my mother, a man who has nothing to do with me," she said, as quoted by news reports.

Sure, she does not want that.



Aso replied, according to the ministry official, "I tried, but it's difficult to change the law."link


I am not a fan of Aso, but if AFP wants to blame the law, it should blame the diet.
Aso is now rumored to be the next PM. I guess AFP does not like Aso.

Domestically Aso is okay but internationally he has drawn a lot of criticisms; for instance, he was once the director of Aso cement that is alleged to have exploited the Chinese and Korea employee during WWⅡ;The argument is that he became the directer after the war, but he should have done something about it to compensate it.
I am not sure how Aso will deal with the issue, but it seems he has many enemies from abroad.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Belgian rejects job seeker due to "racist dog"

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A Belgian businessman rejected a Nigerian job applicant because the businessman said his own dog was racist and would bite non-whites, Belgian media reported on Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT



The 53-year-old man Nigerian told De Standaard newspaper he arrived at the Belgian's wrought-iron business and was immediately confronted by the barking dog.

The Belgian turned the man away before he could even enter, and wrote on his labour office letter that he could not hire the man because of his colour, adding there was a risk the dog would bite him.

The local labour office has concluded that the Belgian was racist and has removed him from its list of potential employers.

"My dog is racist. Not me," the Belgian told De Standaard.

The Nigerian, who has lived in Belgium for 32 years, said it was not the first time he had been rejected for a job because of his colour, although other employers had been more subtle.

He told the newspaper that he did not wish to lodge a formal complaint because he did not wish his family in Nigeria to hear about the case.Yahoo


I am not sure why Japanese media run this article.
[ブリュッセル 9日 ロイター] ベルギーの鉄鋼関連会社で、ナイジェリア出身男性(53)が、人種差別を理由に採用を断られていた。9日付のスタンダルド紙が伝えた。会社の経営者は、自分の飼い犬が「人種差別主義」であり、白人以外にはかみつくと説明した。
 男性は同紙に対し、会社に到着した途端に犬にほえたてられたと語っている。
 男性の求職を一蹴した同経営者は、肌の色が不採用の理由であり、犬が男性をかむ恐れがあると説明。これに対し、現地当局は同経営者を人種差別主義者と結論付け、潜在的な雇用主リストから削除した。
 この経営者は同紙の取材に対し「犬が人種差別主義なのであって私ではない」と話している。
 一方、男性は、肌の色が不採用の理由になったのは32年に及ぶベルギー生活で初めてではないと指摘。ただ、ほかの会社はここまで露骨ではなかったとしている。
 また男性は今回の件をナイジェリアの家族には聞かせたくないとし、正式な告訴は見送るつもりだと語っている。



最終更新:6月10日yahoo/Japan


The man's excuse was funny and picking up the funny news is okay, but I hope Japanese media will check if there is similar racism in empolyment in Japan, in particular when the government expressed the will to welcome the workers from abroad.

The U.S Realism and Idealism toward Pacific War(2)

Kennan's analysis


The fact of matter was that by the end of the century there had grown up in China an extremely complicated and delicate set of relationships between the Chinese and the governments and nationals of other powers. page 42

Manchuria was not, historically speaking, a part of Old China page 42

the attainment of this position in northern manchuria naturally gave the Russians new facilities for projecting their influence in to the southern part of Manchuria as well as Korea and northern China. ......The only practical alternative to Russia power on the Gulf of Pechili was at that time Japanese power, not Chinese. The British recognized this. This was one of the basic factors in the circumstances that lay behind the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese alliance in 1902. the result of that war, as you will recall, was that the Japanese replaced the Russians as the dominant power in South Manchuria and Korea but did not interfere with nominal Chinese sovereignty in the area, any more that the Russian had interfered with in the North. page 42

Theodore Roosevelt recognized as desirable, as early as 1905, that a balance should be preserved Russia and Japan in that are "so that each may have moderating action on the other, " page 43

In accordance with these views our government found little difficulty in reconciling itself to the establishment of Japanese predominance in Korea. page 44

So far as I can judge from such evidence as I have seen, it was assumed by American statesmen that whatever was uttered or urged in the name of moral or legal principle bore with it no specific responsibility on the part of him who urged it, even though the principle might be questionable applicability to the situation at hand and the practical effects of adherence to it drastic and far-reaching. page 47

It was in this spirit that we hacked away , year after year, decade after decade, at the positions of the other powers on the mainland of Asian and above all the Japanese, in the unshakable belief that , if our principles were commendable , their consequences could not be other than happy and acceptable. But rarely could we be lured into a discussion of the real quantities in involved: of such problems as Japan's expanding population, or the weakness of government in China , or the ways in which the ambitions of other powers could be practicably countered Remember that this struck a particularly sensitive nerve in the case of countries whose interests on the Asiatic mainland were far more important to them than our interests there were to us. No one likes to receive suggestions for alterations of his behavior from someone who obviously has far less to lose than he has from the consequences of such an alteration. page 48

It made little difference if our desiderata touched Japanese feeling in peculiarly sensitive spots. It made little difference that the Japanese soul already bore the wounds of having been deprived of the fruits of victory by outside force after the war with China in 1894. We would not let that worry us when we allowed ourselves to appear again at the conclusion of the war with Russia in 1905 as the frustrators of Japanese victory. ...We would not let it interfere with our rushing in again, in the wake of World War Ⅰ---this time as the real leaders of a determined movement to deprive Japan of what she conceived to be the fruits, in terms of betterment of her position on the mainland , of her participation in the war against Germany.
And none of this would be improved by the fact that throughout this long and unhappy story we would repeatedly irritate and offend the sensitive Japanese by our immigration policies and the treatment of people of Japanese lineage, and of oriental lineage in general, in specific localities in this country. ....the country as a whole remained unwilling to recognize that the actions and attitudes of state and local authorities might constitute an important element in the creation of foreign policy. least of all were we willing to agree that the troubles arising over these matters gave us cause to be more moderate in our other demands on Japan. page 49


One of our best informed professional diplomats, Mr. John V.A. Mac Murray, ....wrote in 1935....pointing to the likelihood of a war with Japan if we continue in the course we were following....



"
The defeat of Japan would not mean her elimination from the problem of the Far East.....It would merely create a new set of stresses , and substitute for Japan the U.S.S.R. as the successor to Imperial Russia----as a contestant...for the mastery of the East. Nobody except perhaps Russia would gain from our victory in such a war...[the Chinese} would thank us for nothing and give us no credit fro unselfish intentions, but set themselves to formulating resistance to us in the exercise of responsibilities we would have assumed.
page 52
"

If ...instead of making ourselves slaves of the concepts of international law and morality, we would confine these concepts to the unobtrusive, almost feminine, function of the gentle civilizer of national self-interest in which they find their true value----then I think , posterity might look back upon our efforts with fewer and less troubled questions. page 54
:

Kissinger and Kennan both emphasize the national interest and balance of power as against the ideal policy which had little applicability to actual situations.
Kissinger's Roosevelt saw Japan's involvement in the war with the U.S. essential as the part of his grand-strategy 'Roosevelt's vision of the new world order consisting of the policemen, the U.S. Russia, Britain, and China might be a reason for it.)
But Kennan seems to think it was unnecessary.

(Of course all of this does not mean Japan was forced to enter the war with U.S.; there was much stupid dynamic on the part of Japanese military to go to the war with U.S.)

The U.S. Realism and Idealism toward Pacific War(1)

The U.S. Realism and Idealism toward Pacific War(2)
The U.S. Realism and Idealism toward Pacific War(3)

Kissinger's analysis

For contemporary political leaders governing by public opinion polls, Roosevelt's role in moving his isolationist people toward participation in the war serves as an object lesson on the scope of leadership in de democracy. Sooner of later, the threat to the European balance of power would have forced the United States to intervene in order to stop Germany's drive for world domination. page 370


Americans were still incapable of believing that anything outside the Western Hemisphere could possibly affect their security. The American of the 1920's and 1930s rejected even its own doctrine of collective security lest it lead to involvement in the quarrels of distant, bellicose societies. page 372


Great Britain, too, had sought to steer clear of Europe's daily squabbles . it recognized, however, that its own safety depended on the balance of power.


After his landslide electoral victory of 1936, Roosevelt went far beyond the existing framework. ...Roosevelt began this educational process with the so-called Quarantine Speech, which he delivered in Chicago on October 5, 1937


"
The peace, the freedom and the security of ninety percent of the population of the world is being jeopardized by the remaining ten percent who are threatening a break down of all international order and law...It seems to be unfortunately true the epidemic of world lawlessness is spreading. When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread , the community approves and joins in a quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health of the community against the spread of the disease.
"Page 379


He deeply believed in America; he was convinced that Nazism was both evil and a threat to American security, ...


At the end of October 1938, in separate conversations with the British air minister and also with a personal friend of Prime minister Neville Chamberlain, he put forward a project designed to circumvent Neutrality acts.


To enlist the American public in supporting the democracies, Roosevelt need to frame the issues in terms that went beyond the balance of power and to portray them as a struggle in defence of innocent victims against the evil aggressor. ....
Roosevelt was quick to translate America's new psychological threshold into strategic coin. ....April 1939, he inched the United States closer to de facto military cooperation with Great Britain. An agreement between the two countries freed the Royal navy to concentrate all of its forces in the Atlantic while the United States moved the bulk of its fleet to the Pacific. page 384


When in response to the German invasion of Poland, Great Britain declared war on September 3, 1939, Roosevelt ha d no choice but to invoke the Neutrality Acts. At the same time , he moved rapidly to modify the legislation to permit Great Britain and France to purchase American arms. page 385



After the fall of France, Roosevelt increasingly stressed the imminent threat to American security. To Roosevelt, the Atlantic was possessed of the same meaning which the English Channel held for British statesmen. He saw it as a vital national interest that it not be dominated by Hitler, Thus, in his State of the Union Address of January 6, 1941, Roosevelt linked American security to the survival of the Royal navy. page 384


In September 1941, the United States crossed the line into belligerency. Roosevelt's order that the position of German submarines be reported to the British Navy had made it inevitable that , sooner or later, some clash would occur. ..Comparing German submarines to a tattle snake coiled to strike, he ordered the United States Navy to sink "on sight" any German or Italian submarines discovered in the previously established American defence area extending all the way to Iceland. To all practical purposes, America was at war on the sea with Axis powers.
Simultaneously Roosevelt took up the challenge of Japan In response to Japan's occupation of Indochina in July 1941, he abrogated America's commercial treaty with Japan, forbade the sale of scrap metal to it, and encouraged the Dutch government-in-exile to stop oil exports to Japan from the Dutch East Indies(present-day Indonesia) These pressures led to negotiations with Japan, which began in October 1941. Roosevelt instructed the American negotiators to demand that Japan relinquish all of its conquests, including Mancuria, by invoking America's previous refusal to "recognize" these acts.
Roosevelt must have known that there was no possibility that Japan would accept. On December 7, 1941...Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl harbor....On December 11, Hitler, who had joined tripartite treaty with Japan and Italy, declared war on the United States....
America's entry into the war marked the culmination of a great and daring leader's extraordinary diplomatic enterprise. page 392


It was a measure of the United States' deep-seated isolationism that it had to be bombed at Pearl harbor before it would enter the war in the Pacific; and that in Europe , it was Hitler who would ultimately declare war on the United States rather than the other way around.
By initiating hostilities, the Axis powers had solved Roosevelt's lingering dilemma about how to move the American people into the war. Had Japan focused its attack on South Asia and Hitler not declared war against the United States, Roosevelt's task of steering his people toward his view would have been much more complicated. In light of Roosevelt's proclaimed moral and strategic convictions, there can be little doubt that in the end, he would have somehow managed to enlist America in the struggle he considered so decisive to both the future of freedom and to American security.


.............................................................................
Roosevelt And Hitler: Prelude To Warlink

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Mainich reviews the book "Asahi newspaper vs Sankei newspaper"

The following is a quick translation of the book review of Asahi vs Sankei what will happen to the peninsula? on Mainichi
。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。
"
This is a book of a debate between Kuroda, the Chief of Sankei Seoul Branch and Ichikawa , the Chief of Asahi Seoul Branch.

They discussed the matter such as Japan Korea relation, North Korea and the problems in the report about Korea in journalism.

As is clear from a reading, Kuroda won an overwhelming victory over the debate......

.....
But it is interesting to see what Ichikawa said. Ichikawa, born in 1960, in his 40s, is impressive as an sign of a new Korea school in Asahi shimbun and it is indicative as the thought common to the baby-boom generation.

Just in Korea there are 100 comfort women. In my interviews with them, there is no one who were abducted, dragged with a gag in her mouth.


History is not what matters most in the diplomacy with Korea, if you ask me, I have to agree.


As for North Korea, I was blinded by the illusion of socialism, the sense of redemption toward North Korea, and the reaction to South Korea.


These statement could be Kuroda's.

In particular, when Ichikawa said as regards the anti-Japan demonstration in front of
Japanese embassy in Seoul,
It was like a show....the police surrounded them but they turned the blind eye to the initiating a fire..... it was hard to tell a difference from a set-up. It was typically Korean.

his acute sense of observation stands out probably because he worked as a journalist for social matters......
The world cup 2002 held in Japan and Korea was the origin of Korean wave, but at the same time, it contributed to the anti-Korea wave among Internet users who found the report of journalism about Korea quite unreliable. It is regrettable that two debaters didn't discuss it nor were they aware of such a fact.

Mainichi
>
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I guess Asahi was pro-North Korea.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Lee visited Yasukuni

FNN news

Lee visited Yasukuni to pay tribute to his deceased brother whose soul is enshrined at Yasukuni. Lee said his visit was personal and no politics nor history was in mind.
China responded that Lee's intention, a member of the independet faction n Taiwan, in visiting Japan was clear, and expressed the regret that Japan allowed Lee to enter Japan but avoided mentioning Lee's visiting Yasukuni.


In other words, China does not like Lee's freedom of speech in Japan.
Some people talk as if Japan were to blame for letting him enjoy the freedom of speech....which I find extremely hard to understand.




Taiwan’s Lee visits Japan war shrine

By David Pilling in Tokyo and Kathrin Hille in Taipei
June 7 2007

...................................................................................
台湾・李登輝前総統靖国神社参拝 中国政府、不快感を示すも冷静な対応見せる

来日中の台湾の李登輝前総統が、旧日本軍兵士として戦死した兄が祭られている東京・九段の靖国神社を参拝した。中国政府は不快感を示したものの、比較的冷静な対応を見せている。
台湾の李登輝前総統は7日午前10時すぎ、靖国神社に到着し、本殿に上がり参拝した。
李前総統の兄は、第2次世界大戦で旧日本軍に従軍し、フィリピンで戦死して、靖国神社に祭られている。
李前総統は「私の兄の冥福を祈ることができましたことを、心から感謝しております」と述べた。
李前総統は、学術・文化交流を目的に来日し、「奥の細道」の訪問や講演を行った。
今回、中国政府が「独立派」と非難する人物の靖国参拝に注目が集まったが、李前総統は「これは個人的な私の立場であって、政治的にも歴史的にも何も考えないでください」と述べた。
一方、中国外務省は強い不満を表明した。
中国外務省の姜瑜報道官は「日本国内での行動を見れば、李登輝氏が何を期待しているのかわかる。日本が李氏の訪日を許可したことに、中国はあらためて強い不満を表明する」と述べた。
しかし、そのトーンは落ち着いたもので、靖国参拝に直接言及することはなかった。
温家宝首相の日本訪問などで演出してきた友好関係。
中国の反応は、日本との関係維持を優先した形となった。




By Chisa Fujioka Wed Jun 6, 10:52 PM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - Former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui, despised by Beijing for asserting the self-ruled island's sovereignty, paid his respects at a Tokyo's Yasukuni war shrine on Thursday, despite China's objections.
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Lee's visit could cast a cloud over the recent thaw in Sino-Japanese relations, although a Japanese government spokesman said it would have "nearly zero effect" on ties.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on Lee's pilgrimage to Yasukuni, which is seen by many in Asia as a symbol of Japan's militarism before and during World War Two.

But Beijing had earlier warned Japan it risked harming ties by allowing Lee to visit the country. Tokyo had countered that his trip was for tourism and should have no impact on relations.

Lee, 84, told a news conference before going that his pilgrimage to Yasukuni was a personal matter to pay respects to his elder brother, who died fighting for the Japanese during World War Two, when Taiwan was a Japanese colony.

"It is completely personal, please don't think of anything political or historical," he said, speaking in Japanese. "As family, showing respect to my elder brother by visiting the shrine is something I must do."

Some 300 supporters of Lee, who was educated in Japan and led Taiwan from 1988 to 2000, shouted "banzai" (long life) when he arrived at the shrine. Some waved Japanese flags.

Yasukuni honors millions of Japanese war dead -- among them soldiers from Taiwan and Korea who fought for Japan, their colonial ruler at the time -- but also some convicted war criminals, including wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo.

FRAGILE RAPPROCHEMENT

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had said Japan was a free country and would not prevent Lee from visiting the shrine.

Lee's pilgrimage could damage the fragile rapprochement in Sino-Japanese ties that began after Abe took office in September and made an ice-breaking trip to Beijing.

Relations had worsened under Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, largely due to Koizumi's annual visits to Yasukuni.

Before becoming prime minister, Abe had backed Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni shrine, but he has declined to say whether he would go there while in the country's top post.

Some diplomats said Lee's move was partly an appeal to conservative Japanese politicians who favor tighter ties with Taiwan, with which Tokyo has no formal diplomatic ties.

Beijing has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when China's Nationalist forces fled to the island after losing power on the mainland to Mao Zedong's Communists.

Unlike much of Asia, which harbors deep resentment toward Japan due to its wartime aggression, Taiwan maintains a more friendly attitude toward its neighbor to the north.

Taiwan was already a Japanese colony when World War Two broke out and was largely spared the fighting and harsh treatment meted out to many of the countries that Japan occupied during the war.

Many in Taiwan also credit Japan for helping to modernize the island and maintain rule and order there.

In another move that might irk Beijing, Japan's Justice Ministry decided to let U.S.-based Chinese pro-democracy activist Wei Jingsheng enter the country for medical tests, Kyodo reported.

Wei had arrived at Tokyo's Narita airport at the weekend to attend an event to mark the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators that killed hundreds, possible thousands, of students and workers.

But Japanese immigration authorities had refused him permission to enter the country because he lacked a visa. He has been staying at a hotel near the airport since his arrival.

Wei, 57, suffers from diabetes, Kyodo said.

(Additional reporting by George Nishiyama and Linda Sieg in Tokyo and Doug Young in Taipei)
..................................................................................
Saturday June 9, 8:13 PM
2ND LD: Man hurls bottles at ex-Taiwan leader Lee, misses
(Kyodo) _ (EDS: UPDATING INFO, COMBINING STORY HEADLINED 'EX-TAIWANESE LEADER BLASTS CHINA OVER JAPAN LEADERS' YASUKUNI VISITS')

A man claiming to be Chinese hurled two plastic bottles containing liquids at former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui at Japan's Narita airport Saturday shortly before he left for home, police said, adding Lee was unhurt as both bottles missed him.

"I dislike him and I came here to protest. I became upset at seeing a placard about independence for Taiwan," the police quoted the man, who says he is a 34-year-old engineer in Chiba City, as saying.

Lee blasted China at a press conference earlier Saturday for making a fuss over Japanese leaders' visits to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo which is seen by China and other Asian countries as a symbol of Japanese militarism before and during World War II.

The incident took place around 3:30 p.m. in the departure lobby of the Terminal 2 building of the international airport east of Tokyo when the 84-year-old Lee was about to leave Japan for Taipei, wrapping up an 11-day trip to Japan.

The suspect emerged from among some 60 people waving flags at Lee in the lobby to show their ADVERTISEMENT



support for Taiwan and to see him off, investigators said. ADVERTISEMENT




The plastic bottles were of soft drinks and had their caps on. The suspect said he bought the bottles at a vending machine in the airport and hurled them without having opened them, according to the police.

During his visit that began May 30, Lee caused controversy by visiting the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday to honor his elder brother, who died while serving in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.

Just after Lee's visit to Yasukuni, China expressed its "strong dissatisfaction" with Japan for allowing Lee to visit the country.

Earlier Saturday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, Lee said, "There is no rationale for a foreign government to say anything at all about or criticize" visits by Japanese leaders to the shrine because "it is natural to pay homage to young people who died for their own country."

Lee said the problem of Yasukuni visits is an issue "made up by mainland China and Korea" in an attempt to divert criticism by their peoples away from domestic issues that they have "failed to deal with."

Lee, who led Taiwan from 1988 to 2000, also indicated successive Japanese governments have overreacted to such protests and diplomatic pressure from neighboring countries, saying, "I believe Japanese politics was far too weak."

Lee, however, did not comment on Yasukuni honoring, along with Japan's war dead, Japanese Class-A war criminals.

Beijing regards Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory to be reunited with the mainland, by military force if necessary. Beijing sees Lee as a key pro-independence activist. Japan switched diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing in 1972.

Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule before and during World War II.

Lee also said Saturday, "Taiwan is one independent country. We've said Taiwan is an independent country which has sovereignty and freedom."

"I've not been challenging China," Lee said. "It is important to create stable circumstances" between China and Taiwan through bilateral dialogue, he said.

Lee urged the Chinese government to "promote democracy and grant people freedom" and said that "its economy has been growing for now, but no one can predict what could happen in the coming years."

Looking back on his stay in Japan, Lee said, "It was a great success" as he visited several Japanese prefectures to follow in the footsteps of 17th century haiku poet Matsuo Basho.

His trip to Japan was his third since stepping down as Taiwan's president in 2000. He describes them as private visits.link


Sunday June 10, 7:00 PM
Aso sees no problem with ex-Taiwan leader Lee's visit to Yasukuni
(Kyodo) _ Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Sunday that he sees no problem with former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's visit Thursday to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, dismissing criticism from China about Lee's recent trip to Japan.

"Mr. Lee is 84 years old and has retired to private life," Aso said in a speech in Sendai, northeastern Japan. "His elder brother is honored at Yasukuni Shrine and I wonder what problem there is in his having visited it while he is still healthy."

Lee's brother died while serving in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, when Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule.

Just after the former Taiwan leader's visit to the shrine, China expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with Japan for allowing Lee, a person it sees as a prominent pro-independence figure, to visit the country.

Aso emphasized that Japan has stuck to its one-China policy based on the Japan-China joint declaration of 1972, when Tokyo switched diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing.

He also praised the fact that democracy has taken root in Taiwan, saying it is the "only place in Chinese history" where there was a change in political administration through an election rather than a coup d'etat.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Takeshima/Dokdo Funasugi sums up his research

(1) There are several interpretations of 1667 Japanese document Onsyusichougouki(隠州視聴合記), but at least it is clear that it didn't say liancourt rocks belonged to Korea.

(2) The fact that Tottori local government (鳥取藩) responded to the Shogunate that the both islands did not belong to Inaba, and Houki(因幡・伯耆) does not mean Japan ceded the territory because the document "Isotakeshimajiryaku" (礒竹島事略) edited by the officials who were supposed to be working for government did not make it clear the owner of the territory.

(3)Ahn's testimonies are filled with inconsistent locations about Liancourt rocks;moreover, the cognizance of a private person does not constitute the cognizance of the Government.

(4) There was absolutely no Korean map that depict Liancourt rocks.

(5)Even in the late Edo period, Japanese were cognizant of Liancourt as a mark of the en route to the North as exemplified in the map of the shipping trade.

(6)1786 map 三国通覧図説附図 by Hayashi Shihei was placed under ban by the government because the map was inaccurate. The map banned by the government does not constitute the ground for the title.

(7) In the 1877 document is written "takeshima and another island have nothing to do with Japan." First it does not say they belongs to Korea. Second the document attached the map of 1696 submitted by Tottori, but the map is not the revised map of 1724 by Tottori local government. Third , Japanese maps of around 1877 issued by government indicates Ulleungdo as "Matsuhima"(if "anther land" is Matushima, it does not make sense.) Hence there is little possibility that "another land" is Linacourt Rocks.

(8)There is little possibility that Korean 1900 document's "Seokto" was Liancourt rocks, but it is highly possible that it was Guanundo(観音島)

(9) The charts and Chosun waterway do not say Liancourt rocks are Korean, but they say the eastern boundary of Korea was Ullengdo. It is not possible to assume Japan recognised Liancurt rocks as Korean territory.



博士の独り言

Monday, June 04, 2007

On nationalism---- in case of Japan, China, Korea--Kenneth B. Pyle


In Japan today the term “nationalism” lacks descriptive and analytical
precision to explain the motivation of the sea change underway in Japanese
foreign policy. The new Abe administration is frequently referred to as
representative of a new “hawkish nationalism.” Koizumi’s visits to the war
shrine, textbook accounts of history that seem to excuse imperialism, and
reluctance to apologize for the past depredations are seen as further evidence
of a resurgent nationalism. Yet, in my judgment, there is no significant
nationalist movement or coherent ideology in Japan today.Kenneth B. Pyle


On Chinese nationalism
In China there are a variety of nationalist ideologies, but the dominant
form is a state-led nationalism....... Patriotic education stresses the role of the communist state as the bearer of China’s historic struggle for national independence and prosperity in order to provide the legitimacy for CCP rule that communist ideology no longer provides. Beyond providing legitimacy, patriotic education is used to maintain the social cohesion necessary to support the economic growth on
which the stability of the government depends.


On Korean nationalism
It is often argued that nationalism’s existence
will facilitate unification. But the intensity and exclusivist nature of this
ethnic nationalism may not make it a stable basis for a unified Korean state.
Moreover the strength of this nationalist fervor obscures the differences that
have developed between the two states during partition and may complicate
and disappoint the process of unification. Belief that ethnic nationalism will
overcome all obstacles runs the danger of a romanticized view of unification,
particularly among the young.


Unexpected?

I think many journalists are blinded by their own propaganda.

For an interesting contrast between Korean nationalism and Japanese "nationalism"
see "when nationalism backfires/ Foreign Dispatches

The issues China is facing

A Japanese blogger argues that it is not a matter of whether China will collapse but when it will happen.
The serious issues that China is facing are roughly;

(1) aging society
(2) environmental pollutions
(3) people's voice for the freedom and democracy
...(a) unfair law depriving the farmer of the land
(the farmers were the core supporters of CCP)
...(b) ethnic issues
...(c) injustice by CCP bureaucrats
(4) economic crisis
...(a) the high unemployment rate
...(b) enormous amount of non-performing loans.

In particular, he argues that (4)-b is critically damaging .

Let's see how it will go.

Some thoughts on Moral relativism

Moral Relativism is an interesting topic in itself.
But look how they differ from objectivism or how they converge in practical situations.
To the objection that moral objectivism implies intolerance (or imperialism), objectivists typically contend that the fact that we regard a society as morally wrong in some respect does not entail that we should interfere with it

Perhaps the conjunction of MMR and an ethical principle could give us a reason for tolerance we would not have on the basis of the ethical principle alone. Such an approach has been proposed by Wong (1984: ch. 12). The principle is, roughly speaking, that we should not interfere with people unless we could justify this interference to them (if they were rational and well-informed in relevant respects). Wong called this “the justification principle.”


Let's see the case of parent's right vs grandparent's right.

Petitioners Troxel petitioned for the right to visit their deceased son’s daughters. Respondent Granville, the girls’ mother, did not oppose all visitation, but objected to the amount sought by the Troxels. link

A lower court judge granted the grandparent's petition.
I look back on some personal experience...We always spent as kids a week with one set of grandparents and another set of grandparents, and it happened to wrokd out in our family that it turned out to be enjoyable experience. May that can, in this family , if that is how it works out.

The Supreme Court of Washington reverses that ruling and struck down that law on the ground that it "unconstitutionally interferes with the fundamental rights of parents to their children.
The United States Supreme Court resolved the case by resorting to process and procedure.
Because the Washington statues did not accord sufficient deference to the wishes of the custodial parents and because it authorize "any person--"---no only grandparents---to partition for visitation, it was held unconstitutional.(Rights From Wrongs by Alan M. Dershowitz page 107)


The court differed in opinions, and in a way the Supreme court avoided judging which view is right;it does not touch on the issue whether a child's best interest overrides the parent's right, but the court settled the issue by appealing to the process and procedure or the lack of it.
In this case the interference with grandparents' right was justified because there was lack of proper procedure to the mother.
On the level of the court decision, the interfrance was justified because both parties had an access to the fair trial and both parties had the same value to the court system.

When we turn to the international issue, the problem is more complicated; because there are countries that do not share the value of the international court system or the some sort of international
community by which the issue is settled.