Saturday, May 14, 2005

"Past anti-Japanese rallies provide good lesson"

Past anti-Japanese rallies provide good lesson according
to Tokyo press. Still, Japanese press seldom
demonstrates fruitful insight but only clear signs of
"hedonistic indulgence".

Quote:

"The recent wave of anti-Japanese demonstrations in
China came as a shock to many Japanese. But it probably
prompted few Japanese people to recall the rash of
similar anti-Japanese demonstrations that raged in
Southeast Asia some three decades ago. We should recall
what we learned from that experience.

Violent outbursts of anti-Japanese sentiment started in
Thailand in 1972 and spread quickly to other parts of
Southeast Asia. The tension over the protests against
Japan peaked in January 1974, when then Prime Minister
Kakuei Tanaka visited Jakarta. Demonstrators surrounded
the Japanese Embassy in the Indonesian capital, threw
rocks at it, and attacked a number of Japanese cars in
the city.

Although the analogy can be overdrawn, there are
similarities between the Southeast Asia of 30 years ago
and modern-day China. Japan was making rapid economic
inroads in Southeast Asia back then, just like China
today, and Japanese products flooded those markets. Most
Southeast Asian countries at that time were ruled by
authoritarian governments. Massive flows of foreign
investment powered industrialization in the capitals and
other major cities of those countries, leading to the
emergence of an urban middle class."

Hum, any idea regarding the flop of the Miyazawa
financial initiative that fed south east Asia mob's bank
accounts?

Click the title to access the commentary.

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