Japan needs to work on its Asian relations as China is vital to its economy
August 8, 2004
As Japan's soccer team filed on to the pitch in China this week, the real opponents seemed to be in the stands.
Chinese fans in the city of Chongqing booed the team, sat down during Japan's national anthem and pelted Japanese fans with garbage. The episode even prompted Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to urge Chinese fans not to let animosity over Japan's World War 2 exploits affect sporting events.
While it might not seem it, Japan's bad reception at this week's Asian Cup is an economic story, too.
The antics that had Japanese footballers scrambling to their team bus for safety after games highlight an issue with which politicians in Tokyo need to grapple: how Japan's failure to atone for its past military aggression may undermine future growth.
With Asia stealing the spotlight from the mature, ageing, risk-adverse economies of the US and Europe, Japan is realising its economic future lies here, not in the West. Japanese politicians and business people who once bragged that Japan had joined the West, effectively distinguishing itself separate from Asia, now look to this region for growth.
Koizumi first seemed to realise this when he visited China in October 2001. He was taken aback by China's futuristic skyscrapers and energy. If ever there was a time for Japan to worry about its dwindling status on the global stage, that was it.
More recently, Koizumi has watched as China reached out to Asia economically and diplomatically. China is in the midst of a global charm offensive to convince Asia it aims to be a trusted partner, not a brash rival. Many leaders moved from fearing China to figuring out how to ride its wave.
Finally, Koizumi's government is realising it risks being eclipsed as China's influence grows. That explains why Japan is scrambling to sketch out free trade agreements with countries including Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand.
Koizumi also is travelling the region, pledging co-operation on economic and trade issues as never before.
The trouble is, Japan's historical baggage remains a burden in rooms where such talks occur.
Take Koizumi's recent trip to South Korea, Asia's third-largest economy. He and President Roh Moo Hyun late last month planned to discuss a free trade agreement and North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
Yet precious time was spent on discussions about Koizumi's visits to a controversial shrine that honours class-A war criminals.
South Korea's 48 million people demanded that Roh raise issues surrounding Japan's history textbooks, which whitewash its attempted colonisation of Asia, and Koizumi's war shrine visits.
The same was true in October 2001 when Koizumi met with then President Kim Dae Jung. Their chat focused on repairing historical wounds between two of Asia's biggest economies. Little, if any, progress has been made since.
And then there is China, by far Asia's most dynamic economy and one playing a major role in Japan's recovery. China is sucking up all the attention and, more importantly, much of the capital going to Asia.
Japan needs Chinese demand for its goods, as well as easy approval for its companies looking to build factories and invest there. It also needs Chinese consumers to be interested in its promising "cultural export" industry centring on music, film, books, video games and design.
Japan's leaders may not realise it, but the nation's past military aggression haunts current relations and may ultimately undermine the economy. If Japan wants to regain its lofty status in Asia it needs closure with nations around the region.
It means doing more to apologise for World War 2 atrocities and paying reparations. Until then, the billions of dollars in financial aid Japan hands to neighbours will not temper the hard feelings.
Thanks to Japan's reluctance to atone and Koizumi's culturally insensitive pilgrimages to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, the prime minister cannot even visit China. That the leader of Japan cannot set foot in Asia's most vibrant economy and the key to Japan's economic future puts Japan at a disadvantage.
This is happening at a time when Japan needs to ride China's coat-tails. And at a time when Japan needs to internationalise its bond market (97 percent of government debt is held domestically) so it can sell more securities in the years ahead.
It's a time when China and Japan should join hands to resolve tensions with North Korea and when Asians should co-operate on becoming an economic bloc that rivals the West.
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