Quote:
Originally Posted by sutekidane
I think it was not clear why Japan's rise was not comparable. It is because Japan's population, is less than half the size of the US. Also, US is not alone, we should consider its close allies such as the EU, whereas Japan was entirely by itself. So compared to the combined economic might of US and EU or the West as it is commonly known, Japan is around 1/6 of the West. So regardless of how high the per capita GDP goes for Japan, it can never, by itself, be a comparable power to the West.
But the situation is fundamentally different with both China and India. China is a fairly homogeneous state like Japan, India is a bit diverse, but it has democracy to tie them together with sufficient representation. Both are 10 times bigger than Japan. So when their per capita GDP rise, they go into a league of their own, unlike any other country in the world.
If the masses are worried in Japan then there is very good reason. It is the political class that are clueless or asleep at the wheel in the US, which I am familiar with. I don't know how the political class is thinking about this problem in Japan, which is why I open this thread.
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The US is alone, the EU itself is dubious to count as one unified entity let alone adding it onto the US. Not to mention that there was no EU when Japan was rising.
And yes, as I said there is a difference in that the fears of Japan's rise was based on superior, more efficient workers, each the equivalent of 5 Americans, whereas China's rise is based on a fear of there being so damn many of them, 5 costing the same as one American.
Nonetheless they remain comparable.
Even the Chinese government themselves recognise the similarities and are actively trying to emulate Japan's rise- whilst learning from its mistakes to try and avoid its fall....
And its the opposite really in much of the world. The ignorant masses are worried about China's rise which is of course going to go on forever. Those more informed know this won't be the case.
In Japan though...in Japan they don't just have China's rising economy to deal with but also China as a neighbour. If things go bad for the Chinese economy (as is very very likely happen in the not too distant future) then they might just decide a bit of foreign adventuring is the thing to do to placate the masses. And who better to pick on than the nasty imperialists of Japan? Its an age old strategy for dictatorships.
Already China is making moves to drum up a bit of anti-Japanese nationalism at home.