1. New East Asia, old enmities.
- Author
-
Emmott, Bill
- Subjects
- *
NATIONALISM , *INTERNATIONAL relations ,JAPANESE foreign relations, 1989- ,CHINESE foreign relations, 1976- - Abstract
The article looks at international relations between Japan and the rest of Asia. Where 15 years ago China was merely a pariah with economic potential, having recently massacred protesters in Tiananmen Square, it now has a better international reputation and a much admired economy. In both economic and political terms, Japan is no longer alone in Asia. There have been mass demonstrations in both communist China and democratic South Korea against Japan, accusing it of refusing to face up to its past. Japan has a poor relationship with both China and South Korea. If China's economy, its regional clout and its defence spending all continue to grow at something like their current rates, then China threatens to overshadow the whole region and, more pertinently, Japan, during the next quarter-century or so. That would injure Japan's national pride but could also hurt its national interests.
- Published
- 2005