The China Thread

[crazy canuck]

Japan has about as much chance of reverting back to militarism as Germany does.

That is because their societies underwent such profound changes after WWII.   A military build up inconsistent with that change.

[Razgovory]

Samurai Swords for everyone!

Those weren't really effective infantry weapons last time around.

[CountDeMoney]

Japan has about as much chance of reverting back to militarism as Germany does.

That is because their societies underwent such profound changes after WWII.   A military build up inconsistent with that change.

Yeah, it's called "democracy".

[crazy canuck]

Japan has about as much chance of reverting back to militarism as Germany does.

That is because their societies underwent such profound changes after WWII.   A military build up inconsistent with that change.

Yeah, it's called "democracy".

Meh, a lot of things are called democracy - the real change was a very conscious effort to reject all things militaristic.

[CountDeMoney]

Don't know if any of you have been keeping up with it, but Reuters Investigates has been working on a massive series on China's military buildup in recent years;  latest piece just posted:

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/china-military/#article/part1

About the series

China's military budget - second only to America's - has soared to almost $200 billion. It top leader, Xi Jinping, is championing a renaissance aimed at China asserting its dominance in Asia and beyond. Its quest to modernize its military has been abetted by U.S. allies in Europe. And China's attempts to get American military technology it cannot legally acquire extends beyond cyber espionage to a broad smuggling effort that enlists local confederates whom U.S. authorities struggle to stop.

A team of Reuters journalists examined the path - and the strategy - that Beijing has chosen in its quest to counter U.S. military might.

"The Chinese navy is very much afraid of the Japanese navy's real capability." Yoji Koda, retired Japanese admiral

You bet your little mandarin beanie it is.

[CountDeMoney]

Meh, a lot of things are called democracy - the real change was a very conscious effort to reject all things militaristic.

Yeah, in the officials they elect.

[crazy canuck]

Meh, a lot of things are called democracy - the real change was a very conscious effort to reject all things militaristic.

Yeah, in the officials they elect.

God help us if culture is determined by that

[CountDeMoney]

God help us if culture is determined by that

The nice thing about peoples like the Germans and Japanese is they never do anything in moderation.  And nothing short of anything as cataclysmic as WW2 is going to put them in reverse;  too many generations have become entrenched in post-war pacifism.  They've bought into the democratic timeshare.

Now, if at some point in the future, Japan has reason to believe the United States no longer provides a strategic nuclear umbrella, or that the U..S-predicated collective security model is a no longer valid one, well...a nation's gotta do what a nation's gotta to, regardless of government.

[Jacob]

Don't know if any of you have been keeping up with it, but Reuters Investigates has been working on a massive series on China's military buildup in recent years;  latest piece just posted:

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/china-military/#article/part1You bet your little mandarin beanie it is.

Looks interesting, but the article makes my browser puke

[KRonn]

Japan should be able to re-arm. Their political system is far different from what it was in WW2 days. Same for Germany. The world has changed, those nations have changed. They aren't the bogeymen anymore.

The thing about military build ups is no one can predict how stable (or not) a government will be in the future.  Nobody can predict or stable or not Japan will be in the future.  We have a bad enough time worry about how stable the US is 

For historical perspective people were saying for similar things about Japan prior to WWI.

Japan was vastly different prior to WW2 than now, wasn't it? The world has changed. Back then those nations were still trying to build empires by conquest. We could worry but IMO it's not really necessary to worry about such stable, thriving democracies like Japan and Germany now. Or we might as well worry about the US, UK, France and any other large democracy going nuts too. What we should be worried about are the rogue nations so would want the democracies to have a strong and credible military strength.

[Admiral Yi]

The thing that differentiates Japan from those other countries is that it has a wacko nationalist element that has not been marginalized as it has, for example, in Germany.

Which is not to say I think Japan will be engaging in wars of conquest any time soon.

[crazy canuck]

Or we might as well worry about the US

When did people not worry about this? 

[Josquius]

Pre WW2 Japan was pretty much North Korea. It has changed a tonne.

The thing that differentiates Japan from those other countries is that it has a wacko nationalist element that has not been marginalized as it has, for example, in Germany.

Which is not to say I think Japan will be engaging in wars of conquest any time soon.

It is pretty firmly marginalised.
There's Japanese culture at work though. Wheras in the west we see it as our duty to speak out against those we disagree with, in Japan they see it as far better to just shun them and not link yourself with them in anyway whether it be by being for or against.

[Phillip V]

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304202204579256120230694210

[Admiral Yi]

I dare you to say something unflattering about Japan Squeeze. 

I have not heard mention of the subject for some time, but the last time it was in the news Japanese text books were painting a very revisionist picture of Japan's actions in WWII.