Japan's return to Asia
 

I always think that Japanese illusion about their place in Asia and world after the Meiji Reform is some kind of misinterpretation ,which make them and other people pay a lot . The inevitable rise of China will settle most of the things and make Japan return to her old track and settle in her old place as she did well in the past 2,000 years.

Well, there's a reason the standard of living in Japan is at least twice as high as China. If by "old place" you mean "weak and China is better, we build Great Kingdom for Chairman!", thennn.... no.

as long as china is playing catch up, its not gonna happen anytime soon. and to believe that it will is delusional in itself since the first thing china has to do is drag its billion or so people into the middle class.

lets not forget why china is such a supposed powerhouse right now,.... cheap labour and thats it. again, to believe its anything else is delusional.

Yeah completely agree.

This upsurge in asian ethnic and cultural nationalism is kind of to be expected by a rising Asia to a certain extent but I wouldn't take it so seriously as it's only natural for some sectors of Asian society to respond in such a way.

There's a guy on here called komitsuki who will tell you all about it I'm sure....

I don't think anything is wrong with being proud of one's national achievements. Just have to remember that the more prominant you become on the world stage, the more smaller nations will resent you. America has delt with that for decades now. Be interesting to see how China deals with it.

Well there's nothing morally wrong with it necessarily...

But I'd say there's something inherently flawed in such a mindset in the same way that there is something inherently flawed with the concept of nationalism in general.

I think there is something inherently flawed in the mindset expressed in the above quote.

well yeah there's nothing wrong with being proud of what your country has achieved or what you think its capable of,.... provided your pride has a solid foundation to stand on and is a result of a balanced analysis. nationalism is just based on fantasy, as is every single other ism out there.

and yes, if i were chinese, on the one hand i would be proud of what my country has achieved, but at the same time i would know that china has a loooooong way to go on just about every front, before i bring out the "we rock, you suck" banners.

Please enlighten me as to why attributing a sense of self worth to achievements that you had no involvement in whatsoever makes sense then

but does it need to be any else to be the undisputed powerhouse?

if China achieve a 1:1 parity per capita, this world will die. there is not enough resources, China rise would eventual cause everyone else to suffer the effect of inflation, because let face it, WE ARE OVER-CONSUMING. if we don't adjust ourselves, the market will do it for us as the needs of a billion chinese pull oil and metal prices up.

that is really what China's rise will mean, that our economy must reform into one that is sustainable. there is no illusion that China know that too, which is why it is now leading in the construction of new wind and solar farm.

so if you think the impact is only in labour and not consumption, you are in for a rude awakening in the coming decade.