Posted on 07/08/2012 4:32:31 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Since the end of World War II, the U.S. has managed to hold revanchist Japanese military aims in check while the Japanese pursued economic success. The rise of China, however, poses a threat that Japanese militarists believe requires a response. Would a military build-up be what’s needed to jumpstart the stagnating Japanese economy? …
Then there’s the historic question of the era of Japanese colonialism and militarism. Those days may be long gone, but the memory lingers on. Fears of a Japanese renaïssance as an aggressive imperial power won’t go away. Under the circumstances, it’s easy to understand widespread worries in South Korea about the negative implications of a pact under which Japan and South Korea would exchange military intelligence information. …
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearworld.com ...
“What makes you think that such a military as you hope to come to be would materialize?”
They, and we dont, have much of a choice.
Who is holding them to any choice?
On one side the U.S.-created provisions in their laws that did away with the cultural notion of imperialistic expansion via the military that Japan was basically governed by for decades.
On the other is China that would flatten Japan if they engaged in any unprovoked military expansion on the Asian Continent.
Doesn’t mean that Japan would not chuck any “provisions” in an instant. Many in their government have been trying for quite a while. And I don’t think they’re scared of China to the degree that they’d back down from their military without giving it a good try first. Besides (and what may be worse for the USA) is that there are many in Japan who are actually seeking rapprochement with China while rebuilding Japan’s military simultaneously . . . and that would not bode well for other US-aligned states in the Far East; that might even make them switch allegiance too and leave the USA shut out of the Pacific.
The Japanese should be able to arm themselves as they see fit, at least comparable to their neighbors, but with enough extra to keep the peace. Their neighborhood, their call.
Some viewpoints in Japan include strategic nukes under the “as they see fit” umbrella. Always count on human nature . . .
The principal difference between the Chinese empire and the Japanese one is (1) Chinese atrocities dwarf the Japanese ones by several orders of magnitude without even taking into consideration the Communist era and (2) the Chinese empire is still intact. During the unification of Northeast Asia into the entity now known as China, entire kingdoms were slaughtered. That history tended to be watered down until new dynasties could safely blame previous ones and would anyhow place it in the category of intra-family squabbles, as opposed to the systematic extermination of distinct ethnic and language groups. Note that the Nanking massacre was the third such city-wide massacre in that city alone in recent (i.e the past 7 centuries) Chinese history. The other cases occurred during the Ming Emperor Yongle's 15th century coup d'etat and the Qing Emperor Xianfeng's 19th century extermination of the Taiping rebels. I think we are guilty of a variant of presentism in passing judgment on the Japanese atrocities.
Far too isolated for far too long, the Japanese have got a couple of national screws loose (”IMHO” of course), but other than that I have no problem with it.
As they arm up this time, though, they need to focus a bit more practically on a few small matters like strategy, tactics, logistics and weapons.
As for China, that was a large, friendly country and an ally until our Communist-infiltrated State Department turned it into an enemy. How much current Chinese posturing comes from Communism and how much from old fashioned right wing nationalism I do not pretend to know. As another non-Western nation, Chinese right wing nationalism would be treated as if it were left wing by liberals anyway (as they do with Black and Hispanic nationalism).
At its unification 2200 years ago, after a decade-long series of wars among various independent kingdoms, China's land area was 1/5 of what it is today. From a territorial standpoint, China is Asia's traditional expansive power. The past 200 years have been peaceful in that regard because of Chinese weakness. In the Chinese context, a modern ideology like nationalism is simply a repackaging of the traditional Chinese attitude at the leadership level that geographical expansion to gather additional manpower and resources is the most natural thing in the world.
So where does Communism fit into this? And would a China in which Chiang and the Nationalists had defeated the Communists be just as problematic?
Ironically, I recall that in Frank Capra's The Battle of China (part of the "Why We Fight" series) it was claimed that in all their history the Chinese had never engaged in a war of conquest. Wartime propaganda, I suppose.
“Japan has very good reason be to very frightened of two of her neighbors,both ruled by psychopaths and both believing (with or without justification) that they have major matters to “settle” with her.”
China has more than enough justification (starting in 1931) to “settle things” with Japan. Japan didn’t have to behave as they did in those years and China is not about to let them forget that.
If I were Japan, I would be very, very, concerned about the emergence of China and would even consider a pre-emptive strike on them. They are not going to enjoy life under Chinese occupiers, and China will make damn sure of that.
“I think we are guilty of a variant of presentism in passing judgment on the Japanese atrocities. “
I won’t dispute your recalling of history, but the history of Chinese treating other Chinese like crap simply doesn’t matter to today’s Chinese. What does matter is when an alien occupier does it. That’s when notes are taken and its been that way for as long as history has been recorded.
The implication is that the Japanese "militarists" are the only people who perceive China to be of concern for her neighbors or the world.
While acknowledging that historically Korea has had problems with Japan, one would think that recent history would lead Korea to prefer that Japan act as a counter-balance for China's military. The US seems to be relinquishing that role.
Well bully for them. What are they supposed to do, sit around waiting for an American president who may or may not help them in time of attack?
If China is nervous - good. They should be. In all the first hand accounts I have read about the Japanese soldier in combat during WWII they are to be feared and respected.
In some cases, yes, but after 50+ years of a commitment to Japan and South Korea, one can hardly call us backstabbers. I say this as the daughter of a Korean veteran and the niece of two WW II veterans.
Ironically, I recall that in Frank Capra's The Battle of China (part of the "Why We Fight" series) it was claimed that in all their history the Chinese had never engaged in a war of conquest. Wartime propaganda, I suppose.
Old wine in new bottles. British commanders were extremely wary of the presence of Chiang's armies in Burma (then part of the British empire occupied by Japan) during WWII, given the Chinese claim on the entire territory as a tributary state (a la Tibet). Sinologists are not to be trusted on the subject of China's territorial acquisitiveness - too many fall in love with their subject, in some cases, literally, by marrying Chinese spouses. They're not entirely to be blamed, of course. Anyone who spends a lifetime researching a given subject is likely to have an unusual degree of attachment to it, coupled with an inability to see its warts for what they are.
My point is that if the Japanese conquest of China had held rather been reversed by the A-bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we'd be talking about the inhumanity of Japanese to other Japanese. And the whole Sino-Japanese War as another chapter in the unification of mainland Japan.
Japanese militancy ranks right up there with Christian terrorists - BS.
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