In a recent press conference, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo expressed a desire to meet with Chinese and South Korean leaders to explain why he visited the controversial Yasukuni shrine in late December of 2013. “Seeking dialogue with China and South Korea is extremely important for the peace and security of this region,” Reuters quoted Abe as saying. “I would like to explain my true intentions regarding my visit to Yasukuni.”
The response from China was quick and predictable: no way, no how. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying told the press that China had already “explicitly stated its position” towards the possibility of Abe meeting with Chinese leaders. The answer was (and remains) a resounding no. Hua accused Abe of “playing a double game in China-Japan relations ever since he took office.” Abe pays lip service to improving the relationship, but “the erroneous actions he takes jeopardize the overall interests of China-Japan relations and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.”
It seems that the visit to Yasukuni Shrine was the last straw for Chinese leaders in their dealings with Abe. Hua said that Abe’s decision to visit the Shrine “severely damages the political foundations of China-Japan relations.” Ever since, the Chinese have repeatedly stated that high-level meetings between the two countries are off the table — not that talks looked particularly likely before then. What’s more, China has placed the ball for restarting such dialogues squarely in Abe’s court. “It is Abe himself who shuts the door on dialogue with Chinese leaders,” Hua said. Now, China insists only Abe can re-open that door by showing “earnest and profound remorse” for Japan’s “history of aggression and colonialism” and by taking “real steps” to improve the relationship. Of course, it’s hard to imagine any step that Abe could realistically take as being “earnest” and “profound” enough for China’s government.
No matter what one believes about Japan’s past in general or the Yasukuni Shrine in particular, Abe could not have failed to recognize the enormous backlash his visit to the shrine would cause. It’s disingenuous to act now like the incident was just a misunderstanding, one that could be solved by an in-person explanation of his “true intentions.” And if that were the case, Abe would have been wise to make such explanations before visiting the shrine. In diplomacy, perception is often the key. No matter how innocuous or well-intentioned an action may be, if it strikes the other party as offensive or threatening, that action is inherently harmful to the diplomatic relationship. This explains the furor over China’s ADIZ. It also explains the damage done to China-Japan ties by Abe’s visit to Yasukuni.
It would seem Abe determined that going to the shrine was in his (and presumably Japan’s) best interests. My colleague Ankit argued earlier that the visit was a calculated political move designed to increase domestic support for Abe’s nationalistic policies. Whatever the reason, Abe’s visit to the shrine proves that China-Japan ties can be sacrificed in the pursuit of another goal. Whatever Abe thought he was accomplishing by going to Yasukuni was more important to him than avoiding the wrath of both China and South Korea. This political calculation does not inspire confidence for the future of China-Japan relations under Abe.
Even before Abe was elected prime minister on December 26, 2012, Chinese media were warning that he would be overly nationalistic. People’s Daily noted that in August 2012 Abe promised to reconsider the “three talks” reflecting agreements on how Japan would deal with its wartime history. The “three talks” included a promise not to have historical textbooks that upset Japan’s neighbors as well as two apologies (one for the “comfort women” and one more generally for Japan’s colonial rule). The editorial saw Abe’s promise as “avoiding or deliberately distorting historical facts” and “an attempt to revive … militarism.”
Upon Abe’s election, major Chinese news outlets expressed dismay over the future of China-Japan relations. An editorial in China Daily predicted that, if Abe followed the diplomatic policies he laid out in his campaign, “he will only aggravate the tension” between China and Japan. The Global Times argued that “in the short term, it’s impossible for the [China-Japan] relationship to be what is was before the outbreak of the Diaoyu Islands conflicts.” China seems resigned to a rocky relationship with Japan over the next few years. While the article noted that all-out war was unlikely, it also warned that “There’s no domestic political room for China to ease its attitude toward Japan on the issues of the Diaoyu Islands and the Yasukuni Shrine.”
This is even truer now, after China’s leaders have repeatedly doubled down on their criticism of Abe and Japan. China’s rhetoric has escalated to the point that it would be all but impossible for the leadership to back down — assuming that Abe does not capitulate and give Beijing a reason to restore ties. This is also unlikely, because Abe has his own domestic image to consider. Diplomacy is hard enough when two countries genuinely want to keep tensions at a minimum. When one or both reaps a domestic advantage from stoking the fire, forget about easing tensions —avoiding actual conflict is the best case scenario.
Under the circumstances, the only hope for a reset of China-Japan ties is if Abe is ousted as prime minister. Abe has too much invested in his image as a nationalist to back down, and China’s leaders have repeated their scathing critiques too many times to be able to go back on them. Only fresh faces could potentially end the freeze — and Xi Jinping isn’t going anywhere. Should Abe’s economic policies peter out, costing him the next election, there is some hope for an end to the standoff. In the meantime, both countries are firmly stuck on their current trajectories, which is bad news for security in the Asia-Pacific.
The label Chinese consumers look for...
The great thing about natiionalism is that you can ignore your nation's own atrocities and focus on those of your enemy. It's dronerific.
Appealing to nationalism is just to manipulate ingroup-outgroup morality.
Works like a charm on the sheeple.
Shinzo Abe Is Not Going To be Ousted, And Never Will Be A Commie...
That lost war on drugs simply has no limit.
Quick...someone send Dennis Rodman to diffuse this situation.
http://www.planbeconomics.com/2014/01/dennis-rodman-screams-at-cnns-chri...
Just when Japan wad learning to say no to the USA they now have to start saying yes to China. That blows
Slightly OT...but only because I respect your opinions....
Abe must be Randian, since he is following in the footsteps of Greedspank. So....if Greedspank proves that Rand fails, please explain Ben Dover's actions, and how exactly they are in contrast to those of Greedspank?
Thanks in advance Floyd Ferris.
"The great thing about natiionalism is"
You can't escape it and the bell rings again. Heads up, it's the end of the game.
I see the sun set, but I don't see it rise.
It would be easy to slam the Japanese people for giving Abe another chance to fuck up the country but, then, look at the US voters.
I think it's cute that he goes by "Abe" and not "Abraham".
the fact that he goes by "Abe" is a concern of mine. Is it a "shrine"? How about if they called it a "memorial" instead? It is on Japanese soil...a "none of your bee's wax" moment?
Pronounced 'ah-bay.' It is a Shinto (Buddhist) shrine where nearly 2.5 million honored dead are buried from the time of the Meiji Restoration (return of the Emperor to the throne following the American invasion and the collapse of the shogunates - circa 1868-69) through the Russian War, World War 1 (Japan was an American ally) and through the Pacific War (WW2). The problem is that some convicted Pacific War criminals are enshrined there so a visit is seen to honor those who visited horror on the Asian population during Japan's invasion and occupation, especially China and Korea.
"The problem is that some convicted Pacific War criminals are enshrined there".
To be precise the problem is that convicted WWII war criminals' remains were MOVED into Yasukuni after the war by Japanese nationalists, so that it is impossible to honour the war dead of all wars without also paying respects to those nasty customers. It's a no-win for every Japanese leader - either look disrespectful to the noble dead or look like you liked Japan's actions in the first half of the 20th century.
Solution: move the war criminals out again. Then the PM could visit Yasukuni without an issue. The fact it will never happen tells you all you need to know about the true power in Japan.
To be even more precise, the silly shrine might not have been a symbolic line in the sand if Japanese leaders had not been so consistently cagey and disingenuous about national contrition and Japan's atrocities in WWII.
Instead 60 years of murky euphemism and innuendo has led to the murky diplomatic situation we now have. In a theater where face matters more than anything else.
Seems like Abe has been taking diplomacy lessons from John Kerry and the Obamatron!
(Talk about inserting yer geta in yer mouth!)
The USA student is never taught about the Bonus boys in WASH-DC,
And certainly the USA student knows nothing of the "RAPE of NANJING", perhaps they know well of the 'HOLOCAUST', but they don't know much about what the Jap's did in ASIA.
The JAPANESE IMPERIAL ARMY, kiilled every man they found, boy, man, or child, they kept the women.
The WOMEN were all sent to "FUCK CAMPS", where they were fucked to death, chained to beds 24/7, they were raped, they shit, and pissed where they laid until they died, some last months, most only lasted days, suicide was rampant.
It was not only NANJING, it was everywhere from Myanmar(then Burma) through-out China the JAP's set up FUCK-CAMPS. Any women that was deemed fuckable was sent to the camps all else were murdered.
***
THe chinese are taught, there are movies by the zillions, like muslim-arabs, the CHINESE will never fucking forget.
In the west its easy to fingerbang an infant with TSA hands and ma-pa white folk just smile and and say "MAY MY BABY HAVE ANOTHER".
If a COP in the USA knocks out grannys' teeth, or beats a little girl to a pulp ( under 10 years old ) the MSM his, "SHE HAD IT COMING".
In CHINA the average person seeks revenge to this day you never see many JAP's wondering around CHINA flying a JAP-FLAG on their backpack.
My POINT is CHINA WILL ALWAYS HATE JAPAN. FOREVER.
**
Just because the USA hair-lips accept assholes doing bad to their children, never fucking forget that muslims and chinese NEVER forget.
The JAPS are fucked forever, they will be hated to the die they die.
I remember first time I went live in China, they say "Where you From" ( in chinese ), I say "AMERICA", they always give you the thumb-up, AMERICA DROP NUKE ON JAPAN, AMERICA GOOD.
The chinese love fucking america for hiroshima, and nagasaki.
Crazy, isn't it? The Chinese have committed similiar atrocities, and they cheer America for inflicting horrible suffering on thousands in a war that was already over. We Americans intentionally targeted civilians, in order to let Russia know that we should not be fucked with, leading to a cold war that led to millions more suffering. Chinese cheer it. Japanese cheer it. Americans cheer it. Russians cheer it. Gotta love humanity. Go team. Give me a ....
It's hard to understand an Eastern (idiomatic) mind when you are raised with a Greek (western/logical) worldview. Amercans have no sense of where they come from, and therefore no sense of legacy, or inheritance. Example, if I say 'It's as far from the East is as the West' - the average American will think of NY vs. LA. But in the East, what goes East can never go West...like the earths rotation. Also, they are trained to value experience as understanding (anyone who has gray hair and visited China will understand what I'm saying). Whereas in the West, experience matters not. I.e. it's possible to go to an IVY league school and take a business course from someone who never ran a business. I'd say that there is much the West can learn from an 8000 year old civilization, but y'all are probably more concerned with the teevee.
I don't defend Western culture, but spare me the high Eastern horse. Eastern cultures have been engaging in mindless atrocities for millenia. And the last time I checked China is a giant fuck hole run by corrupt douchebags who have no problem with worker safety nets and prison camps, and Japan is obsessed with life-like sex dolls and they have teevees that fill a room and the Japanese and Chinese line up for them. Your post is just more team/tribal mentality in my view.
I disagree with one thing, Xibalba. The West does seem to have a sense of legacy. It is called hubris.
Yes, the East has no pride and they don't kill themselves out of shame. Seriously?
I didn't junk you, but you prove my point. America has no 'corrupt douchbags'? 'Worker safety' seems to me like a major reason Apple doesn't manufacture it's goods in Cupertino. And the worlds Porn engine is where? Oh right, Simi Valley. And as far as mindless atrocities, pick up a copy of 12 Years a Slave...since it's easier to watch it than read it.
Did you notice how I didn't defend the West while you defend the East? Go Team.
I was defending the East? I don't see how stating obvious differences in culture are defensive. I was educated in Bavaria, btw. And our textbooks didn't teach about Hitler, but rather Bismark. In the same way, the US teaches about George Washington and Columbus as some kind of hero.
Okay, I read your earlier post more carefully and considering your second post I see you're right. My apologies for jumping to conclusions.
accepted. I think we're on the same team.
Unfortunately, I don't think our team is having much success, but thanks for the gracious acceptance of my apology.
Hows that live/work were you want, leave or return, print, politic, worship, and....ding ding ding..labor camp script RMB doing...crypto serf/slave?
Watch "The Mahabharata"
8000 years of civil war. Yippee.
Have they gone 200 years at a stretch without a slaughter?
Australia became a country by signing a piece of paper, and apart from slaughtering the natives (as was the fashion of the day) has never suffered internal strife.
Maybe China can learn from a young civilisation.
In fairness, I'll admit that calling Australians civilised is a stretch though.
A quality I have always enjoyed thoroughly.
I'll remove my tongue from my cheek now.
And maybe my foot.
But the Aussies introduced the world to Vegemite. There's no forgiving that.
Dude. That shit is delicious.
We also claim Russel Crowe and many other New Zealanders, out of pity.
Some of the finest humanitarians you can imagine.
Russel is an acquaintance of mine through horology. His favorite film of mine remains Romper Stomper.
I mock the bloke, but that film is actually pretty excellent.
He just tends to take himself rather more seriously than is usually acceptable in an Australian.
Try Vegemite again mate, just spread it THIN on a nice bit of multigrain toast.
Damn, I'm making myself hungry....
A least he's not a seppo...
Too right sport. ;-)
"what goes East can never go West...like the earths rotation"
did you know if you go far enough east, you'll end up in the west? in fact, with a randomly selected destination and a randomly selected origin, going east to get to the west is likely easier than going west to get to the east, due to "the earths rotation". example: to get to vancouver from london on a flight, you travel north by northeast, .. and heres the kicker, vancouver is west of london. and thats an example of an easterly direction of travel to get to the west.
those greybeards are most wise, how ever was it the polynesians were able to get to hawaii.
Revisionist PC nonsense. Documentaries about The Bomb interview Japanese who in one clip detail how they were training to plant sticky bombs under Allied vehicles and training Jr. High students to fight off the invaders with sticks. In the next clip they say how it was an experiment and to scare the Soviets.
Invasion would have killed millions and the evidence is clear that the Japanese would have fought to the last pre-teen school girl all the way to Sapporo. Two A-Bombs and they still debated, and when The Emperor wanted to surrender the Militarists attempted a coup. This is the behaviour of a nation that would have fought to the last child.
Since my male relatives would to had to have fought in said conflict and perhaps die, I prefer that the Japanese die instead of my father or uncle.
This would also mean that I would be alive rather than dead.
Since my grandfather worked on The Gadget (with a redacted and eliminated existence to prove it), machining and designing radioactive parts, and died in his 30's from massive cancer, you can thank me for the fact that millions of Japanese and Allied Troops did not die in a futile nationalistic orgy of 'We must defend the homeland' at all costs.
You think of the 350,000+ dead.
I think of the 10,000,000 that lived.
You may thank my Grandfather at your leisure...
Check your history. The Yanks stole the tech from the Nazi's and used it the same way Hitler planned to annihilate his enemies. Then they proceeded to build up a war machine he would envy, just a few years after declaring the WWII 'the war to end all wars'. Violence in pursuit of peace is not a high road, and certainly not one I'd be proud of.
The Nazi's nuclear program was a huge dead end. It was the Americans, Canadians and British, who built The Bomb.
You must be thinking of the US missile program and Operation Paperclip.
Built yes. Designed no. Hitler was defeated prior to accomplishing what the Manhattan Project did not fail to.
Hitler's entire program had multiple flaws from bomb design, to reactor, to enrichment, to the choice of enriching material. Even given more time and access to resources, they were following multiple dead-end leads in the field of nuclear engineering.
They were on the wrong track.
It's similar to their using the Heinkel as a fighter rather than a bomber.
The Germans were *almost* always technologically superior, but they sometimes made huge gaffes. They were first with a nuclear program, but it was just wrong.
I'm not a nuclear scientist, nor did I have any family involved, so I'll take your word for it. But the fact remains, the USA is the only country to turn little children into shadows on walls...justified or not.
curious isn't it? make you wonder how that's possible?
Yet no one mentioned Enrico Fermi, the father of the A bomb. What a bunch of PC clueless faggots you all is.
they went through a lot of silver too. The gold did briefly flow East as well: http://english.arthur-stern.de/index.php?look=1218388570 "bearer bonds." made illegal under the Reagan Administration.
Why are you responding to my comment? Give me a reason.
No European, nor the Brits no Russia had the wealth nor material nor skilled trades and engineers ...all needed and in sufficien numbers and free...to build the bomb.
The theoretical knowledge for the bomb was wide known befor the war.
Everyone else was maxed out do to the war.
Take for example the Oak Ridge enrichment facility. Buildings miles long,......
As early as January 1945, the Japanese knew they were defeated and had offered to surrender under terms virtually identical to those accepted in September 1945. FDR, and later Truman, weren't interested.
Sorry about your grandfather.
http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n3p-4_Weber.html
That's not identical and facts, their words, their documents, show they were not going to surrender until dead. Many generals did, indeed, kill themselves that week rather than surrender. The Japanese wanted to negotiate. They lost that privilege when they ran around the Pacific rim killing everyone.
They weren't going to surrender. Heck, they nearly didn't.
They lost all privilege to end the war on any favourable terms when they began the war. If someone won't sell you oil, you don't go to war. You accept it or negotiate. Nope, they go to war. It's their fault, revisionist. If I won't sell you something, you don't kill me to take it, rape my sister, force my brother to build your railroad, and invade neighbouring nations.
Sorrow not neccessary. He did more than almost all other human beings to end the war. You should express pride and gratitude.
.
And after attempts to negotiate are rejected because the party you're trying to negotiate with wants war?
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2012/12/06/pearl-harbor-roosevelt-knew/
I'm not going to fault you for clinging to the comfort of your illusions. I used to have the same ones and I know how difficult it can be to let go of them.
FDR wanted war with Japan and got it. That doesn't excuse the atrocities committed by the Japanese against their neighbors. I can only hope that the Japanese war criminals are roasting in Hell along with Hitler, Stalin, FDR, and Truman. Someday soon, they'll be joined by Dick Cheney and, eventually, Obama, the Bushes, the Clintons, and their predecessors.
Even if one discounts American motivations and only considers Japanese behaviour towards its regional neighbours, they were not deserving of favourable terms.
When a culture behaves as the Japanese did, you make sure that it is reworked from top to bottom and that means they surrender unconditionally so that their leadership and style of government can be eliminated.
To repeat for your comprehension, this is based soley upon their behaviour towards their Asian neighbours if not one American died.
You simply see the modern historical context, and then map that back to apply that mindset to a foe that was killing everyone they could in Asia.
For that alone, the Japanese were not deserving of 'favourable terms'.
It's their fault. They chose to attack, invade and kill.
This childish notion that 'he made me do it (go to war for oil you won't sell me. WAAAAH!') is what a 4 year old says when having a conflict in Kindergarten.
The issue is not that I am unaware of what you state, your arguments, cites and sources; the issue is that I can see the flaws in your reasoning that you cannot.
As a further example the post up thread wrt the link 'Was Hiroshima Necessary?.
What you don't see in the above quote is that Leahy believes the bombings had no impact upon the Japanese. IOW NOTHING would have assuaded or persuaded them. They were going to continue doing what they were doing regardless. Blockade? No immediate surrender. Firebombings? Same. Two nukes? The same.
Think about that;. Two nuclear devices dropped on their nation and they STILL didn't immediately change your mind? That is a very determined nation.
The fact is that the Japanese did *not* collapse or surrender before two bombings. Waiting around for a blockade to work would not be wise if you were Chinese, Korean or Asian.
This is not subject to a parsing of history. The mere fact of any delay in surrender after the bombings indicated their mindset. IOW the dates and intervals proved their resolve. A sane culture would have surrendered by noon local time on the day of the Hiroshima bombing. The effects were well known by the Japanese leadership by that time.
That is what you don't see.
All you need to do to see that you are very wrong, is look at the current posture of the Japanese administration. They are going to pick up exactly where they left off, and that's due to extremely intense Japanese nationalism. It's only going to get more confrontational as the USA declines in influence and Japan reverts. Little has changed in the Japanese character and with China growing, it looks to be a source of conflict for decades to come.
I have lived in Asia for more than 5 years.
The bias that Westerners have towards Asians, that Asians are so smart, or better at maths, or that we can learn something from the Eastern Idiomatic Mindset, is just nonsense.
Asian superiority is just a myth. I have never encountered a lazier, less motivated, more selfish and ignorant group of human beings in my lifetime.
They don't know their own history, all Confucian-Chinese Cultures (China, Korea, Japan) are so full of nationalistic fervor that they would all like to kill and exterminate any or all of the other Confucian-Chinese Cultures.
They have NOTHING to offer 'The West', which is vastly superior in nearly all aspects.
They only care about money and food, and have no inner lives. They are shells of human beings.
Nonsense. I know more about history than everyone I speak to in China. The Chinese are ignorant, and WANT to be that way.
There is a difference between 'Never Forget' and 'Hate Forever'. You can remember without hating, but the Chinese are too stupid to discern this.
Funny, I could level the exact same criticism towards most Americans, and probably most Europeans too. Oh, and throw in the mindless sports fanaticism that is particuarly pernicious in Western society too.
I cannot dissuade you from your ignorance.
Consider that the 'truths that you know' about Americans (and other nations) are merely lies.
The point is that you will continue to believe what you will about Americans no matter how much my existence, or the existence of my friends, contradicts your belief system.
It's called bias, and you have it. Not much I can do to remove it.
You probably even think those 'man in the street' video interviews of ignorant Americans are not staged and edited to make you feel superior.
"Consider that the 'truths that you know' about Americans (and other nations) are merely lies.'
Like the 'truth you know' about Asians. Everyone suffers from some bias, right?
All based on observations and conversations whilst LIVING in Asia. AKA reality, not bias.
Compare that reality to the nonsense I 'knew' before moving to Asia similar to the nonsense you 'know' about America.
Nonsense such as:
-Asians are hard working
-Asian women are submissive
-Asians are smarter
...and so on.
All simply not true.
I encounter a similar attitude whenever meeting Europeans whilst traveling. They sit across a table and tell me about America, as I sit across the table refuting every point merely by my existence. Yet they continue to 'believe' all the falsehoods they tell each other.
That's not bias, that's called stupidity and denial and ignorance.
Yes, the 'superior' European culture...*cough*
Yes, well...I am sure you bring out the best in everyone you meet while making all of those inferior Asians and Europeans love Americans all the more.
"That's not bias, that's called stupidity and denial and ignorance."
I think you nailed what I was trying to say right there.
What usually happens is that at a gathering spot where non-Chinese meet during their travels, I ask if I may join them as several sit around a communal table eating and chatting. Then, without an introduction or so much as an exchange of names, some European at the table asks me a question that entails me justifying some aspect of America, Americans or US Policy. When all I seek is polite equality, conversation, and a good meal.
This is the first thing out of their mouth.
Where I come from this is referred to as rudeness and inappropriateness.
But if your and their behaviour is indicative of current European social mores then perhaps Continental Finishing Schools are not what they once were...
Care only about money and food...with no inner lives did you say? To me it sounds like a case of America envy. Perhaps I could agree with you if you chose a slightly different analogy.
Clearly you've never been to Baltimore.
Flowers of War with Christian Bale and Ni Ni is a recent movie and a must watch:
The Flowers of War (2011)"Jin líng shí san chai" (original title)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Flowers-War-Christian-Bale/dp/B007WXUVHU
Ruh roh...
This article/writer might have taken a moment to explain what the 'Yasukuni Shrine' is and means to the Japanese and Chinese for us unwashed plebes, no? No history, no context? Who, what, where, when and why is kinda basic journalism.
Get off your ass and look it up. It's a Shrine to Japan's war dead, and everything imaginable under the sun having to do with that. I find it funny that Abe made such a public gesture at such a controversial place. It has opposite meanings in Japan and China/S. Korea.
Abe clearly either wanted to juice up hid guys or throw shit in the face if the Chinese.
I was able to infer that 'cause I knows me some history.
My point is/was that it's sloppy journalism.
This would be another great opportunity for the US to butt the hell out and not interject itself.
Shinzo Abe (and not just him) better start worry about this things...
http://enenews.com/agency-conjoined-baby-gray-whales-found-in-baja-california-after-pacific-migration-could-be-first-ever-recorded-2-heads-and-2-tails-joined-at-ventral-region-photos-video
As a kid I was fascinated by the US Navy's war in he Pacific. This led me to read much more than the naval war and become very familiar with Japan's actions in Manchuria, China proper, Burma and other greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere conquests. Japan in China does stand out on a par with the Nazi treatment of Jews, Russian and Poles. Japan felt superior themself the superior race and superior nation. They did all the rape, murder and general destruction and carried it all to a new level.
China is not going to forgive and forget. Japan made their reputation across the Pacific region and mainland China. Japan also had two goes at Russia in the Far East before WWII. In both cases the Red Arny handed them their asses. The second time in grand style. I read a full length military history of the second battle in 1939. Russia proved Japan's army to be an outdated under armed and obsolete joke. And this with the Red Army badly ruined after Stalin had taken it apart. Needless to say, Japan did not have another go at Russia, even when the Nazi war machine was at the gates of Moscow.
China was a feeble corrupt nation locked in civil war when Japan marched in. It had nothing to do with Japanese fighting power, and everything to do with China as a decayed nation in a helpless position. With it's power restored and on the rise, China is going to want it's face back. Or what we call honor in the west.
Japan is a unique culture and nation, sorry I never saw much of it, when I was in the Navy.
You as always have great insight. What strikes me is that sociopaths have ruled the world since the beginning. Before Western history even began, a bunch of guys with weapons fought each other and did really bad shit in societies ruled by other sociopaths. To me, the lesson to be learned from all of this is that the ordinary guy can defeat the sociopaths only by banding together.
Interesting post.
One of my ancestors died in a place called Hellfire Pass, which Japanese people will never properly acknowledge.
We've moved on from it, though many old diggers still remember and hate.
A proper teaching of history in Japan would go a long way to healing the breach, from what I hear Japanese students are taught that the Burma railway in WW2 was a major triumph of Japanese engineering and toughness.
Abe is just the latest excuse.
These guys just do not play well together.
Also of note: During that 1939 campaign in Mongolia is when Zhukov came to prominance. The Soviets considered it just another backwater steppe, but the defeat Zhukov handed the Japs (the Russians themselves not forgetting their defeat in 1905) secured his career. If it weren't for that we'd never know about the man in history.
Hi jack! I'm the guy who thanked you recently for providing me with the impetus to improve my diet a few years back. I'm going to be passing by your part of the country in the next couple of weeks and would be honored to take a detour of a few hundred miles if it meant the opportunity to meet you. Please accept my contact request so we can discuss!
Yours, either way.
I agree with most of what you say Jack, except Japan mauled Russia (specifically the Russian Navy) in 1905. This contributed to the demise of the Russian Empires under the czars, and led to the Japnaese thinking they were superior militarily. Even more telling is that the Japaese never really changed their tactics after that, right up until their surrender.
China has always presented a problem for it's "rulers". There s a lot of space and a number of cultures. People in Western China (including some Muslim cultures) do not share their countrymen's angst against the Land of the Rising Sun. There have already been clashes. Unifiction againsy Japan does provide a needed dose of nationalism, but there are those that see it as an opportunistic distraction.
Toyotas are no longer welcome in China.
Once Japan implodes, he won't be welcome in Japan either.
Now take that same logic and apply it to Muslim views on America. And the reason: the Apartheid regime in Israel. I've wondered for almost a decade now why the fuck any American could support Israel.
Fortunately most Muslims are able to separate their hatred for America's government from that toward the average ignorant American who doesn't have a clue about what's going on (of course I can't stand that either).
I've wondered for almost a decade now why … any American could support Israel…
I take it by “American” you mean persons from the US. That being the case, the US has many (s)elected officials claiming some degree of jewish ancestry, and while these law degreed persons tout separation of church and state, they are only too eager to inject their own brand of “secularized” religion into their governing efforts. The judeo-christian basis of US jurisprudence is in no small way responsible for this continuation of attitudes. I personally have come to believe jewish interests feed on promoting wrong-headed “christian” eschatological “left behind” teachings to garner support for the nation state too.
Fortunately most Muslims are able to separate their hatred for America's government from that toward the average ignorant American…
The fact remains, after the second biblical holocaust, i.e. the destruction of the temple in ad70, no person on the face of the earth can truly prove direct ancestry to any of the original Abrahamic lineage, yet alone an Israel / Jacob bloodline. At this point in time, it’s as likely the muslim / Ishmael and the jewish / Isaac blood is so thoroughly mixed, the ability to physically distinguish between the 2 would be impossible as the same blood courses through everyone’s veins in the same proportion.
In a very real sense, anyone / everyone can legitimately claim Abrahamic lineage as it’s quite literally a matter of faith.
Stop wondering and go back to how the State of Israel was formed. The existance of Israel goes beyond being a US protectorate, although the US took the lead in the 60s & 70s. Some of the finest propaganda ever produced was in 1967 and 1973.
Proper Muslims do not see Israel as having an Apartheid regime. Take note from the Saudis working with Israel against Iran and the Israeli Muslims who don't want to be lumped in with the Palestinians. Look at the Egyptians.
When you get right down to it, Palestinians descend from the Sea People, people who invaded Egypt in ancient times and got their butts kicked. Egypt placed them in the Gaza region to be a buffer against the ancients from Anatolia and Persia. No proper Muslim supports the Palestinians as the Palestinians are not honorable people. It is in their nature to bite the hand that feeds them. Their leaders cannot negotiate honorably with Israel as some sphincter group of Palestinians would kill them or their loved ones.
Muslims, as a group, love America, and love the secular nature of the American governing process. They come to America to prosper, and those that don't emulate it in their homelands.
Fuck the government of China. Wear it as a badge of honor, Mr Abe, even if you are a douchebag.
Shinzo Abe = the reincarnation of Yukio Mishima
Maybe China will buy Japan's debt in exchange for comfort women.
Germany did extensive reconciliation after WW2. With France, with other neighbors, with Jews, anybody who would listen to. They educated their youth to hate militarism. As a result, there's not much fear in Europe about German military. That benefits the whole region economically, politically and culturally - most and foremost the Germans themselves.
Japan has done none of that. They don't even admit they did anything wrong in China and Korea. China gets stronger by the day, and Japan should try to mend the relationships while they still can. Abe does exactly the opposite, rubs salt into the wounds. Abe chose the wrong career. With his composition, he would've been happier as a soldier. As a politician he can only do damage. Even if there were green shoots for the Japanese economy, Abe would nip them in the bud with his silly nationalistic posturing.