China-Japan rivalry heats up

BEIJING - History is usually not very kind to Japan and China at the same time.

When one nation is doing well, the other one usually isn’t.  In fact, this is the first time in 2,000 years that China and Japan are both strong nations at the same time, with ominous consequences.

In recent days, tens of thousands of Chinese protesters, many of them students, held startlingly violent anti-Japanese demonstrations in Beijing and southern Chinese cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu, denouncing Japanese textbooks that they claim whitewash Japan’s wartime colonial brutalities.

Despite the massive columns of helmeted riot police, the protesters threw rocks and bottles at the Japanese embassy and ambassador’s residence and broke windows at Japanese supermarkets and restaurants in Beijing, leading the Tokyo government to demand an apology, as well as payment for destroyed property.

Animosity between the two nations is centuries old. And yet for Asia, and for the larger strategic paradigm which involves America’s interests, the rivalry may yet pose unprecedented new challenges.

The question driving the debate is: Who will lead Asia in the 21^st century? For both nations, it is an issue of economics, security and national pride rolled into one.

For China, Japan is a recalcitrant power that is ignoring the atrocities of the past in its aggressive struggle to remain as the hub of Asia. For Japan, China is a rising ambitious challenger and authoritarian regime that refuses to move away from a stance of hatred and non-compromise.

Economic ties and tensions
At the moment, China and Japan are key economic allies — each is the top trade partner of the other.

China has surpassed the United States to become Japan’s number one trading partner, while Japan has been China’s leading partner for three years out of four.  Both economies mesh together surprisingly well.  China’s low-cost “factory of the world” has not been siphoning off many jobs from Japan’s high-tech industries.

Yet Japan still has much to fear from China.

For 30 years, Japan’s economy was the talk of the world: the incredible growth, the world-class companies, and the not-so-subtle intention of overtaking the United States as the economic heavyweight of the world.

Now, few believe Japan will be the center of Asia. With a very unimpressive growth recorded last year, is still struggling to recover from its decade-long economic slowdown.

Today, it’s China’s economy that everyone is talking about: massive growth, incredible export potential, and the not-so-subtle message that they may have other plans to go with their new economic clout. China’s growth is both impressive and concerning to many Americans, yet the nation that feels most threatened by this development may be Japan.

China is currently the world’s fastest-growing economy. With a GDP growth rate of around nine percent last year, it is also the world leader in attracting foreign investments.  The numbers, for many people, signal a shift of the economic epicenter from Tokyo, to Beijing.

Tokyo does not appear ready to go down without a fight. Two weeks ago, Japanese leaders stressed the need to improve ties with India and they have also proposed reforming banking practices and encouraging scientific and technological innovation. However, it remains unclear if the strategy that served them well in the past will help them now.

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