Posts tagged ‘Japan’

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13/06/2014

Japan denies brush with Chinese planes, demands China withdraws footage | Reuters

I sincerely hope China and Japan are NOT sleep walking into a major war.

“Japan on Friday denied Beijing’s claims that its Self-Defence Force planes came “dangerously close” to Chinese aircraft in an incident over the East China Sea on Wednesday, demanding China takes down the footage allegedly showing the incident.

A Chinese SU-27 fighter flies over the East China Sea, in this handout photo taken May 24, 2014 and released by the Defense Ministry of Japan May 25, 2014. REUTERS/Defense Ministry of Japan/Handout via Reuters

The tit-for-tat accusations and denials are part of a long-running territorial dispute between Asia’s largest economies. They follow a similar incident on May 24, when Japan said Chinese aircraft came within a few dozen metres of its warplanes. China, where bitter memories of Japan’s wartime militarism run deep, lays claim to Japanese-administered islets in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. China declared its air defence zone covering most of the East China Sea last year despite protests by Japan and the United States.

On Thursday, China said two Japanese F-15 planes followed a Chinese Tu-154 aircraft and came as close as 30 metres, “seriously affecting China’s flight safety”. It posted a video allegedly showing that incident on the defence ministry website.

“We believe there is no truth in China’s assertions that Japanese fighter planes came within 30 meters of a Chinese plane and severely affected the flight’s safety,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

“The planes (in the video) are different,” he said in response to a reporter’s question about the rationale behind Japan’s assertion, adding Japan lodged a protest late on Thursday and demanded that Beijing take down the footage.

China responded by calling on Tokyo to “immediately stop all its provocative words and acts”.”

via Japan denies brush with Chinese planes, demands China withdraws footage | Reuters.

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13/06/2014

Does China Care About its International Image? | The Diplomat

China’s global image faces challenges — but if asked to choose between its national interests and preserving its national image, China would choose the former

Does China Care About its International Image?

A recent poll conducted by the BBC World Service shows that China’s international image is not that great around the world. Although this year China’s international image is equally divided (42 percent vs. 42 percent) between those who think China’s influence is positive and those who think it is negative, China’s image in Japan and South Korea (two of China’s most important Asian neighbors) is quite negative. In South Korea, only 32 percent of South Koreans have positive perceptions of China whereas 56 percent of them hold a negative perception of China. In Japan the picture is ugly as only 3 percent (a record low) of Japanese hold positive views of China whereas 73 percent view China as a negative influence in Asia.

However, China’s image in Africa and Latin America is quite positive. All three African countries surveyed have very high levels of positive views of China, with 85 percent in Nigeria, 67 percent in Ghana, and 65 percent in Kenya. Of all four Latin American countries surveyed, only Mexico has more negative views than positive views of China (40 percent vs 33 percent); the other three countries are mostly positive about China (Peru 54 percent vs. 24 percent; Brazil 52 percent vs. 29 percent; Argentina 45 percent vs. 20 percent). Another interesting finding about China’s international image is that most advanced countries hold negative views of China, with the U.K. (49 percent vs. 46 percent) and Australia (47 percent vs. 44 percent) being exceptions. Especially puzzling is Germany, which only has a 10 percent positive view of China against 76 percent negative views of China. This might not be surprising as most advanced countries happen to be democracies and they are often quite critical of China’s lack of democracy and human rights problems.

A natural question that one might ask is “does China care about its international image?” Due to China’s recent assertive actions (here and here) in East China Sea and South China Sea, it might seem like China is not worried about its image among its Asian neighbors. But it is inconsistent with China’s efforts in recent years to enhance its soft power and build a positive national image around the world. Thus, the puzzle is this: if China does care about its international image, why would China behave in a way that hurts its own national image? This is a legitimate question given some evidence showing that many in Asia now see China as a big bully.

There are three possible explanations for the seeming inconsistency between China’s national image campaigns and its recent assertive behavior. First, it could be that China does not genuinely embrace the idea of national image or soft power. According to realist logic which is dominant in China, what really matters in international politics is material power; also, soft power often is a byproduct of material power. Thus, the Chinese leadership might have accepted the idea “it is better to be feared than loved” in international politics. If indeed this is the reasoning behind China’s foreign policy in recent years, then it is not surprising at all that China feels little need to promote its national image.

The second reason could be that China does care about its national image but the problem is that China is inexperienced or even clumsy in promoting its national image. Indeed, in recent years China has put in lots of resources into its ‘public diplomacy’ which has generated mixed results. Just think about how much money Beijing spent on the Beijing Olympics 2008 to promote China’s positive image. It is abundantly clear that Beijing does want to present a positive and peaceful national image to the international community. Nonetheless, it could well be that officials in China who are in charge of promoting national image are incompetent or there is no coordination between different ministries and actors such as the Foreign Affairs ministry and the military. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs finally released a position paper on the 981 oil rig crisis after a month had passed. Although this is helpful, one wonders why China could not have done it earlier. Now the damage is already done. Also, China has maintained that Vietnamese vessels have rammed Chinese vessels more than 1,400 times, but it would be much more convincing if China could release videos showing how the Vietnamese vessels rammed Chinese ships. There are many other examples like this one, suggesting that China’s public diplomacy needs to be more skillful and sophisticated if it is going to win international public opinion.

Finally, China’s neglect of its national image could be explained by a rational choice strategy that puts national interests in front of national image. Thus, China does care about its national image, but it cares more about national sovereignty and territorial integrity. When forced to choose between sovereignty and national image, China will choose sovereignty — and any other country would do the same. As Xi Jinping said earlier this year, China will never sacrifice its core national interests, regardless of the circumstances. Viewed from this perspective, national image becomes secondary compared to territorial integrity.

via Does China Care About its International Image? | The Diplomat.

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12/06/2014

China Minting Millionaires in Global Wealth Surge – Businessweek

Where do the world’s rich live? As has long been true, the U.S. has more millionaires (in U.S. dollars) than any other country, with 7.1 million. But China last year came in second with 2.4 million millionaire households, beating Japan with half as many. The number of millionaire families around the world reached 16.3 million last year, up from 13.7 million the year before.

Visitors crowd around a luxury yacht on display during the 19th China International Boat Show in Shanghai on April 10

All told, the total value of global private wealth grew far faster than global economic output, up 14.6 percent, to $152 trillion, compared with an 8.6 percent increase in 2012. Much of the new money originated in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan), up by 30.5 percent, to $37 trillion. That put Asia in the No. 3 spot for riches, behind North America and Europe, according to the 14th annual survey on private wealth by Boston Consulting Group.

Driven by rapid GDP growth in China and India, Asia is expected to surpass North America and Europe as the leading source of global wealth in 2018. That year, the global pot of gold will total a bit less than $200 trillion, with the proportion from Asia projected to reach $61 trillion, slightly more than North America, with $59.1 trillion. “The Asia-Pacific region and its new wealth will account for about half of the total growth,” the report predicts.

via China Minting Millionaires in Global Wealth Surge – Businessweek.

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06/06/2014

Creativity advances as patent filings rise – China – Chinadaily.com.cn

An increase in overseas patent applications from Chinese applicants is a positive sign for China’s innovation and economy, World Intellectual Property Organization Chief Economist Carsten Fink said.

WIPO emblem.

WIPO emblem. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to the WIPO, China’s patent office became the world’s largest intellectual property office in 2012 in terms of the number of its patent applications, but Chinese patent applicants did not file their patents as frequently abroad in other countries as did those from the United States, Europe and Japan.

Fink said that a changing picture was observed as patent filings abroad by Chinese companies and research institutions have been growing rapidly.

The WIPO found in its new study that the growth of Chinese patent filings abroad increased significantly after 2000, with a five-year average annual growth rate of 40 percent between 2000 and 2005, and 23 percent since 2005.

“That is important because on the one hand, it signals that Chinese companies really operate on the world technology frontier, and (on the other hand) it also suggests that indeed they are pushing the world’s technology frontier. That is a good sign for China’s innovation system,” Fink said.

Fink stressed that overseas patent filings weighed heavily for China’s economy and could be a positive boost.

“That will help Chinese companies to transfer their business models from the past one that relied on low wages to another one that will rely more and more on new technologies, new products and new ideas,” he said.

via Creativity advances as patent filings rise – China – Chinadaily.com.cn.

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22/05/2014

Modi’s Challenges on the World Stage – India Real Time – WSJ

India is back. Last week’s election tally shows that an allegedly divisive leader has united the country as no politician has in decades. India is now in the hands of a prime minister who has managed the economy of its most industrialized and globalized state—one that has grown faster than China for two decades—and the consequences will extend far beyond India. The U.S., China and Japan all have high stakes in an Indian resurgence that could tilt Asia’s power balance in a democratic direction.

As the first Indian prime minister born after independence, Narendra Modi could now declare Indian independence from the old shibboleths of state socialism and non-alignment that have kept the country poor and geopolitically marginalized. To fulfill his people’s aspirations—tackle chronic underdevelopment at home, close the gap with Chinese power abroad—Mr. Modi will need all the western and Japanese capital, technology and military support he can get.

The last prime minister from Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, Atal Bihari Vajpayee (in office 1998-2004), declared India and America “natural allies” after decades of alienation. He also conducted nuclear tests to deter Chinese adventurism, visited Lahore to sketch out a vision for peace with Pakistan and opened the door to U.S.-India defense cooperation. Yet Indo-U.S. ties weakened in recent years, part of what Mr. Modi calls the general “stagnancy” afflicting his country.

The best way to restore Indo-U.S. momentum is to get India growing again. “A strong economy is the driver of an effective foreign policy,” Mr. Modi has said. “We have to put our own house in order so that the world is attracted to us.”

via Modi’s Challenges on the World Stage – India Real Time – WSJ.

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21/05/2014

Is China’s Housing Bubble Beginning to Burst? – Businessweek

Earlier this month, financial analysts from Japan-based Nomura Group (NMR) issued a grim report on China’s housing market: “To us, it is no longer a question of ‘if’ but rather ‘how severe’ the property market correction will be,” the report read.

Residential apartment buildings under construction in Qingzhou city, in east China’s Shandong province

Nomura—which has historically been bearish on China, as the Wall Street Journal observes—predicted that a downturn in the housing market, caused by oversupply and shrinking developer financing, could sharply impact China’s economy, perhaps even driving GDP growth to less than 6 percent in 2014.

China’s economy is vulnerable because property investment accounts for anywhere from 16 percent to 20 percent of gross domestic product, according to varying analyses.

via Is China’s Housing Bubble Beginning to Burst? – Businessweek.

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13/05/2014

Hundreds of Chinese families seek wartime compensation from Japan | Reuters

Japan invaded China in 1937 and ruled parts of it with a brutal hand for the next eight years. Chinese historians say nearly 40,000 men were taken to Japan against their will to work in mines and construction. Survivors say living conditions were appalling. Many did not make it back to China.

Pictures of Liu Guolian's father Liu Qian, who was a forced labourer by Mitsui Mining to work in their mines in Fukuoka of Japan, are seen on a table during an interview with Reuters on the outskirts of Beijing, April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Petar Kujundzic

In possibly the biggest class-action suit in Chinese legal history, about 700 plaintiffs lodged a case against two Japanese firms at a courthouse in eastern Shandong province in April, said Fu Qiang, a lawyer representing the families. Among the plaintiffs are several forced laborers, now in their 80s and 90s, and this might be their last chance to seek redress.

The suit was filed against Mitsubishi Corp (Qingdao) Ltd, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp, and Yantai Misubishi Cement Co, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Corp and construction firm Mitsubishi Materials Corp, Fu said.

The plaintiffs are each seeking 1 million yuan ($160,100) in compensation, a public apology in several prominent Chinese and Japanese newspapers, as well as the erection of a memorial and monument in remembrance of the forced laborers, Fu said, adding that they also want the companies to fund their legal expenses.

It is unclear whether the lawsuit, with other smaller cases, will be accepted. But lawyers say there is a good chance they will be heard after a Shanghai court last month impounded a Japanese ship over a dispute that dates back to the 1930s war between the two nations.

The lawsuits could further irritate diplomatic relations. Late last month, China released previously confidential Japanese wartime documents, including some about comfort women forced to serve in military brothels. The files also contain details of the Nanjing Massacre, a major source of debate between the countries.

The number of plaintiffs, including families and surviving forced laborers seeking redress, total at least 940, with combined claims reaching at least 865 million yuan, lawyers say.

That figure could rise further as there were nearly 8,000 forced laborers from Shandong during the war, according to Fu.

The other two Japanese companies involved in the suits are coal producer Nippon Coke and Engineering Industry Co, formerly known as Mitsui Mining Co, and stainless steel maker Nippon Yakin Kogyo, the lawyers say.

“When we took the laborers to Japan to negotiate a settlement and listened to their speeches, they moved us to tears,” said Deng Jianguo, a lawyer involved in five of these lawsuits since 2007. “They (the Japanese companies) have the ability to compensate and make amends for (their) past mistakes, but they aren’t doing it. I think, morally, you can’t justify this.”

Similar suits would be filed in central Henan and northern Hebei provinces, Deng said.

Mitsubishi Corp’s spokesman Susumu Isogai said in Tokyo: “We can’t make any comment as we have not received the complaint.”

Takuya Kitamura, a spokesman for Mitsubishi Materials, and Masayuki Miyazaki, a spokesman for Nippon Coke, both declined to comment, saying they both had not received any complaints.

A Nippon Yakin spokesman, who declined to be identified, said the company is unaware of any new lawsuits against it.

via Hundreds of Chinese families seek wartime compensation from Japan | Reuters.

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09/05/2014

Wheat vs. Rice: How China’s North-South Culinary Divide Shapes Personality – China Real Time Report – WSJ

In China, as in many countries, the north-south divide runs deep. People from the north are seen as hale and hearty, while southerners are often portrayed as cunning, cultured traders. Northerners are taller than southerners. The north eats noodles, while the south eats rice—and according to new research, when it comes to personality, that difference has meant everything.

A study published Friday by a group of psychologists in the journal Science finds that China’s noodle-slurping northerners are more individualistic, show more “analytic thought” and divorce more frequently. By contrast, the authors write, rice-eating southerners show more hallmarks traditionally associated with East Asian culture, including more “holistic thought” and lower divorce rates.

The reason? Cultivating rice, the authors say, is a lot harder. Picture a rice paddy, its delicate seedlings tucked in a bed of water. They require careful tending and many hours of labor—by some estimates, twice as much as wheat—as well as reliance on irrigation systems that require neighborly cooperation. As the authors write, for southerners growing rice, “strict self-reliance might have meant starvation.”

Growing wheat, by contrast, the north’s staple grain, is much simpler. One Chinese farming guide from the 1600s quoted in the study advised aspiring farmers that “if one is short of labor power, it is best to grow wheat.”

To produce their findings, the authors evaluated the attitudes of 1,162 Han Chinese students in Beijing and Liaoning in the north and in Fujian, Guangdong, Yunnan and Sichuan in the south. To control for other factors that distinguish the north and south—such as climate, dialect and contact with herding cultures—the authors also analyzed differences between various neighboring counties in five central provinces along China’s rice-wheat border.

According to the authors, the influence of rice cultivation can help explain East Asia’s “strangely persistent interdependence.” For example, they say South Korea and Japan have remained less individualistic than Western countries, even as they’ve grown more wealthy.

The authors aren’t alone in observing the influence various crops have on shaping culture. Malcolm Gladwell in his 2008 book “Outliers” also drew connections between a hard-working ethic (measured by a willingness to fill out long, tedious questionnaires) to a historical tradition of rice cultivation in places such as South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, given that the farming of such crops is arguably an equally tedious chore.

But what will happen to such differences after people move away from tending such crops, as is now happening across China? The study cites findings that U.S. regions settled by Scottish and Irish herders show more violence even long after most herders’ descendants have found other lines of work as evidence that cultural traits stubbornly resist change, even over time. (Herders, psychologists theorize, are ready to put their lives on the line to protect their animals against thieves or attack.)

“In the case of China,” the authors conclude, “only time will tell.”

via Wheat vs. Rice: How China’s North-South Culinary Divide Shapes Personality – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

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29/04/2014

Documents prove the truth can’t be buried[1]- Chinadaily.com.cn

Unearthed files provide new details of Japan’s occupation, report He Na and Dong Fangyu from Changchun.

Documents prove the truth can't be buried

Cruel life of miners under Japanese subjugation  In 1990, Zhao Yujie, a young teacher of Japanese at a high school, decided to fully exploit her linguistic skills by applying for a job at Jilin Provincial Archives.

Although she wasn’t aware of the fact, Zhao had applied at exactly the right time. The management of the archives was searching for Japanese speakers to help decipher a huge number of records, totaling about 100,000 documents, made by the Japanese and detailing the activities of the Imperial Army during the occupation of China.

Recently, 89 of the 100,000 files discovered in Changchun, the provincial capital, have been made available to the public for the first time. The documents were buried following Japan’s surrender in August 1945. At the time, Changchun, then called Hsingking, was the capital of the Japanese-controlled puppet state of Manchukuo, which covered most of Manchuria.

Eighty-seven of the files describe the activities of Kwantung Kempeitai, or military police corps, while the other two detail the work of the Manchukuo central bank. Because around 90 percent of the files were written in Japanese, the words, photos, audio material and blueprints provide clear descriptions of the behavior of the Japanese troops in the period 1931 to 1945.

The documents provide insights into Japan’s invasion, its battle plans and colonization strategies, and key episodes such as the Nanjing Massacre, the use of sex slaves, or “comfort women” as they were known, bacteriological experiments on prisoners and civilians, suppression of an anti-Japanese army in China’s Northeast, and the inhuman treatment of civilians, soldiers and Allied prisoners of War.

“As the largest batch of Japanese archives covering the period from 1931 to 1945 to be discovered so far, these files are of great historical value. They detail Japan’s cruelty to the people of the countries it occupied,” said Dong Hongmao, director of the Institute of Japanese History at the Jilin Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.

via Documents prove the truth can’t be buried[1]- Chinadaily.com.cn.

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24/04/2014

Japan’s Mitsui pays China to release seized ship-court | Reuters

Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd paid about $29 million for the release of a ship seized by China over a dispute that dates back to the 1930s war between the countries, China’s Supreme Court said on Thursday.

The Baosteel Emotion, a 226,434 deadweight-ton ore carrier owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, is docked at the port of Maji Island, south of Shanghai April 22, 2014. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

The Chinese government has described the case as a simple business dispute unrelated to wartime compensation claims, but it has become a cause célèbre for activists in China seeking redress from Japan.

Mitsui paid about 2.92 billion yen ($28.5 million) in leasing fees, including interest and damages, China’s Supreme Court said in a statement on its official microblog. Mitsui also paid 2.4 million yuan ($385,000) in legal fees, the court said.

via Japan’s Mitsui pays China to release seized ship-court | Reuters.

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