India and Japan vs China

[Guest guest]

Rajeev Srinivasan <rajeev.srinivasan@g...> wrote:

"It is interesting that the incident in Nanjing, even in the most

extravagant Chinese claims, counts not more than 250,000 to 300,000

Chinese killed by Japanese invaders, as well as 20,000 women forced

into military prostitution, known as comfort women. Compare this to

the at least 1 million Tibetans killed by China's ill-named People's

Liberation Army, and the thousands of Tibetan women forced to have

abortions and sterilised as part of the attempt to destroy the next

generation of Tibetans: this is truly cultural and racial genocide."

 

april 27th

 

An Indo-Japanese strategic alliance

 

http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/apr/26rajeev.htm

 

April 26, 2005

 

The visit by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to India,

slated for

April 28, promises to be far more useful than the recent visits of

China's

and Pakistan's dictators. But because the Indian English-language

media has

a perverted sense of priorities, the diplomatic theater presented by

Wen

Jiabao <http://specials.rediff.com/news/wen05.htm> and by Pervez

Musharraf<http://in.rediff.com/news/mush05.htm>has received far more,

and far more ecstatic, coverage than the Koizumi

visit will. This is unfortunate.

 

The Japanese premier's visit will have substance. Even though India

acquiesced to Koizumi's making a visit to Pakistan on the same trip,

(thus

reinforcing the India-Pak-equal-equal fiction assiduously cultivated

especially by China) there are the glimmerings of a new beginning

between

India and Japan. I have long been a supporter of stronger Indo-

Japanese

partnerships, for a variety of reasons, and this may be the time for

such a

relationship to really blossom.

 

There are three areas to concentrate on: strategy, culture and

commerce.

 

Both India and Japan are engaged in rather pathetic attempts to get

into the

UN Security Council as veto-holding members, and no prizes for

guessing

which country is opposing both nations' candidacies: China, of

course, which

clearly sees itself as the natural hegemon of Asia.

 

China has come out against Japan's candidacy, claiming, amusingly,

that

Japan has not atoned for its World War II sins. It is interesting to

note

that China has been beating Japan with this same stick for over fifty

years.

Whenever they want to gain an advantage over Japan, they start

shouting,

'The rape of Nanjing,' and the Japanese obligingly reach into their

pockets.

China has extorted at least $10 billion from Japan through guilt-

inducement

and blackmail.

 

*The China-Japan row*

<http://specials.rediff.com/news/2005/apr/25sld1.htm>

 

It is interesting that the incident in Nanjing, even in the most

extravagant

Chinese claims, counts not more than 250,000 to 300,000 Chinese

killed by

Japanese invaders, as well as 20,000 women forced into military

prostitution, known as comfort women. Compare this to the at least 1

million

Tibetans killed by China's ill-named People's Liberation Army, and

the

thousands of Tibetan women forced to have abortions and sterilised as

part

of the attempt to destroy the next generation of Tibetans: this is

truly

cultural and racial genocide.

 

Where is the atonement for this from China's leaders? Where are the

billions

of dollars in reparations given to the Tibetans? The answer of course

is

that there is none of the above. The Chinese, in their own minds, are

free

to perform the crimes they accuse others of.

 

The Chinese are the ones most insistent that India should not get a

Security

Council seat either, so here's one issue on which Japan and India can

relate

to each other.

 

Japan has seemingly decided to stop being bullied by China, period.

This is

reflected in several recent events. The US and Japan made some recent

statements about Taiwan's defence, which got China to squawk loudly.

Japan

has now parceled out oil-drilling rights in the East China Sea in

areas that

China claims as its exclusive territory. Most of all, Japan is

demanding an

apology from China for damage to the Japanese embassy and commercial

property in the recent, apparently state-orchestrated demonstrations

all

over China.

 

Clearly, the Chinese have gone too far. The Japanese depend on

several

principles of honour and etiquette that they hold most dear. One is

*wa*,

harmony, and a preservation of good relationships despite differences

of

opinion; another is *kao*, or loss of face, which must be avoided at

all

costs; and a third is *omiyori *, empathy, and the ability to imagine

another's feelings and to create trust and mutual loyalty.

 

On all three of these counts, the Chinese have overstepped their

boundaries,

and I can only assume they did this because of their imperial hubris

about

how they are going to be masters of the universe any day now. They

have

destroyed harmony, caused severe embarrassment to Japan, and have not

empathised with Japan's position. After all, with the world's second-

largest

economy, it is not unreasonable for Japan to expect to have a say in

how the

world runs itself, via a seat at the Security Council high table.

 

In terms of long-term strategy, there is the laughable fiction of the

'peaceful rise of China.' This is just marketing hype, we all know

that

China is not going to the peaceful, because they have throughout

their

history been an imperialist nation. Furthermore, they have the need

to kill

off 30 million young men who will never find wives because there are

that

many 'missing women' from the one-child policy, and they are

therefore are

likely to be delinquents. The best way to manage their excess energy

would

be to go to war to ensure a large number of them get killed and cause

no

further trouble.

 

China is expanding its military, building up a blue-water navy, and

enhancing its proliferation activities in missiles and nuclear

technology.

All this adds up to a formidable challenge. It is likely that the

Chinese

will attack Russian Siberia for its oil and gas, attack Taiwan to

capture

it, and attack Japan either directly or through its proxy North

Korea, to

cripple its economy. The American nuclear and other security umbrella

that

Japan currently enjoys may become more toothless over time. The clear

implication is that Japan will cease sooner of later to be pacifist,

and

build up its armed forces.

 

There is definitely a need for Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, India and

others

threatened by China's ravenous appetite for *lebensraum*, resources

and

hegemonism to get together and 'contain' China. This is a context in

which

Japan and India could cooperate. For instance, if necessary, India

should

proliferate its nuclear and missile technology to Japan. After all,

China

has been kind enough to do that for all of India's enemies.

 

The second linkage is cultural. Many Japanese view India as the Holy

Land of

their Buddhist religion. In particular, Zen Buddhism was created by

the

venerated preceptor Daruma, who was in fact the monk Bodhidharma who

went

from Kodungalloor in Kerala (some say from Kanchipuram in Tamil

Nadu). There

are also innumerable cultural similarities, for instance between

Kabuki and

Kathakali classical dances, that could be expanded upon.

 

I have traveled extensively in Japan, and I have found the people

there to

have generally positive feelings about India as a culture and a

civilisation. Increasing numbers of young Japanese come to India, for

instance the 28-year-old woman I met in Hampi a while ago, who had

spent

most of the previous year backpacking in India. It is true that there

are

practical difficulties: Japanese are highly sensitive to dirt and

disease

and squalor; furthermore they prefer to eat Japanese food and

entertain

Japanese-style, and all these are problems in India. But with more

expatriates living in India, things will improve.

 

The interesting thing is that Japanese don't appear to hold the same

kind of

racism towards Indians that Chinese do (although the Chinese and

Koreans

constantly complain about Japanese racism). In any Chinese-dominated

place,

such as Singapore, Hong Kong or mainland China, racism against

Indians is

quite palpable. Not so in Japan. By the way, Indian restaurants are

popular

(I remember *Kerala* in Kyoto, *Moti* in Tokyo's Akasaka precinct,

and *

Nair-san's* on the Ginza) and one of the favorite fast foods is

*kari-raisu*which bears little resemblance to Indian curry, although

Japanese imagine

that it does.

 

Culturally, I think it is not difficult, strange though it may seem,

for

Indians and Japanese to get along well. There has never been any

direct

interaction between the two cultures, or conflict, so there is no

baggage.

Even the interaction between the Japanese and the Indian National

Army in

World War II was fairly positive.

 

In terms of business, Japan-China political friction will only

magnify the

kinds of commercial problems they have had. So far as I know,

Japanese

investments in China have seldom provided a good rate of return, and

they

have found their intellectual property ripped off by the Chinese. For

instance, Matsushita, one of the earliest investors in China, is yet

to show

a proper profit after 20 years, as their local partners siphon off

all the

value. The situation is similar with many other Japanese investments.

 

In the meantime, Japanese investments in India have slowly picked up

steam.

The experiences of Honda, Toyota, Suzuki and Sony have not been too

bad in

India. Since they have now had sufficient time to evaluate the

results of

moderately large investments, this may be the time the consensus-

based

Japanese establishment may be induced to suggest to major Japanese

companies

that India is a good destination.

 

One of the favourable factors for India is the demographic time-bomb

in

Japan, as its population ages rapidly; and since they are not prone

to

import immigrants, it is likely that they will outsource work.

Estimates are

that there is a shortage of 300,000 technical workers in Japan, which

accounts for 20 per cent of the world's total IT market at about $270

billion. This is clearly an area in which India can engage Japan.

 

In general, Japanese are much more honorable commercial partners than

the

Chinese are, and they will ensure that their contractual commitments

are met

to the letter. Indian firms need to be prepared for this: Japanese

expect

you to meet your commitments to the letter as well, which may amount

to

culture shock for Indians used to bending the rules a little. If this

tendency can be curbed, Indians will find that the Japanese make

fantastically loyal partners for the long-term (unlike Americans who

are

short-term focused).

 

Thus, the stars seem to be aligned for an Asia-Pacific alliance

between

India and Japan that can have significant benefits for India,

including

positioning India as the growth market with no negative political

feelings

about Japan, unlike antagonistic China.

 

This is the best time in years to strike wide-ranging agreements with

Japan

and wean the latter away from over-dependence on a hostile China. I

do hope

the mandarins in South Block are up to the challenge.

 

Comments can be posted on my blog http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com

 

 

 

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