Japanese Politics
by Joey Malbon
A look into current events surrounding Japanese politics quickly reveals the animosity between China and Japan, a feud that predates the Second World War. Japan first invaded China in 1931 and on July 7, 1937, Japan made a kove on the capital and took Nanjing by December. From December 1937 to March 1938, 300,000 civilians consisting mainly of women and children were raped and murdered by means of chemical and biological weapons in what is known as the "Rape of Nanjing." This was seen as one of the worst massacres of the last century and has been a black spot on modern Japan's image.
Diplomatic ties between the two nations were severed until 1972, and relations between the two countries have been shaky at best. Things have become even more difficult due to Japan's past Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, visiting the Yasukuni Shrine in August 2001. The shrine was built in 1969 to honor those who died in past Japanese conflicts (including 14 Japanese war criminals) and Koizumi has been the first prime minister since the mid-1980's to visit the shrine.
Throughout his career Koizumi continued to make visits to the shrine, which was seen by China and South Korea as Japan's failure to admit the pain and suffering caused in its militaristic past. Japan has also recently whitewashed its past with a right-wing funded textbook that came out in 2005. Eric Johnston writes in Japan & China: The Ancient Rivalry that
Japan’s leaders, on the other hand complained, not without reason, that Chinese are subjected to false, anti-Japanese propaganda. Japanese media, meanwhile, publish revisionist books and articles which deny, downplay, or rationalize past atrocities or portray Chinese complaints as the result of brainwashing by the Communist Party.
Another issue between the two Asian giants is the potential for a large oil deposit off the often-disputed waters near the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. The islands, not much more than bare rock jutting from the ocean, are claimed by both Japan and China, and both nations are industrial superpowers which rely heavily on natural resources to sustain their production-based economies.
One of the few areas in which China and Japan work well together is trade, where Japan is enjoying record sales of product in China. Auto manufacturer Toyota has invested a large amount of money into China, and company chairman Hiroshi Okuda even acts as a behind-the-scenes liaison carrying messages between the two nations while politicians refuse to budge.
Japan's current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came into office in September 2006, and carried on Koizumi's neo-liberal presence by filling his cabinet with young and upcoming conservatives and hawks, but he is easing pressures between Japan, China, and North Korea. During the aftermath of North Korea's underground nuclear bomb detenation, Abe managed to smooth over relations urging countries in the region to hold talks on the issue and not make rash moves.
Furthermore, Jiabao is to become the first Chinese Prime Minister to address Japan's parliament, just months after Abe's trip to China in October of last year. Both countries remain positive about their relations, despite lingering tensions over the East China Sea oil deposits and mountng secrecy between the two nations' military programs.
Despite Shinzo Abe's progressive attitudes towards regional security and peace talks, many elements of the new parliament steer a hard right-of-centre position. It recently passed a bill stating that teaching "patriotism and love of country" would be mandatory in the public education system, and the military Defense Agency has recently been upgraded to department status similar to that of the pre-war era.
Even worse, high ranking politicians including the country's Foreign Minister, Taro Aso, put parliament into a debate over whether Japan should acquire nuclear arms and technology. These questions raise fears over a possible Asia-Pacific arms race, but many of the issues have been lurking in the background of Japan's new conservative cabinet. Left unchecked, the country's progressive leanings may be pulled much further to the right than it at first appeared.
Sources
China-Japan Disputes. CBC News. July 15, 2005. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/china/china_japan_disputes.html
China PM seeks war reconciliation. BBC News. 2007/04/12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6547199.stm
Hogg, Chris. Abe works on neighbourly ties. BBC News. Oct. 6, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5405106.stm
Japan and China aim to thaw ties. BBC News. 2007/04/11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6543647.stm
Japan PM's war shrine visits ruled unconstitutional. CBC News. April 7, 2004. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2004/04/07/japan040407.html
Johnston, Eric. Japan's NeoCons Revisited. Adbusters 70.. April 2007. http://adbusters.org/the_magazine/70/Japans_Neocons_Revisited.html
Johnston, Eric. Japan and China: The Ancient Rivalry. Adbusters 67. http://adbusters.org/the_magazine/67/Japan_China_The_Ancient_Rivalry.html