With China rising, Asia heads to troubled waters
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led his ruling Liberal Democrats to a landslide victory in the Lower House snap elections, and through a conservative coalition will no doubt attain a two-thirds majority to change its so-called pacifist Constitution, enabling his country to be more assertive militarily and diplomatically.
Abe's victory was made possible due to the divided and weakened opposition that couldn't provide an alternative for voters. That gives Abe free rein to ignore the lessons of history and take his country back on the "Nippon-first" path. Last time it was on that track, Asia was on fire set by Japan's colonial misadventure during World War II at the cost of millions of lives. The vestiges of horror are plentiful _ comfort women sex slaves, the Rape of Nanking and two atomic bomb explosions, to name a few.
As if Abe alone isn't making the regional outlook horrible enough, he has a friend in the destructionist U.S. President Donald Trump, who is striving to make his country great again at all costs _ trashing Washington's traditional alliances and telling the world they are all second-rate citizens below Americans.
The two leaders have been on the same page about North Korea over its nuclear and missile brinkmanship. Trump threatened to rain down "fire and fury" on Pyongyang before it completes its nuclear-armed missiles that are capable of hitting American population centers.
Abe has also put the North on notice after Pyongyang launched missiles that flew over the country twice.
Abe's victory is attributed to popular fear of North Korea.
Now, the rejuvenated Abe, when combined with the Trumpian assertiveness, could result in a more force-based approach on the North.
Adding to the potent mix is Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader who seeks to elevate his status to that of the nation's founder Mao Zedong during the ongoing People's Congress in Beijing. Xi amply made clear during his opening speech that "his" China would stand up to any power, meaning the U.S. The big picture has it that the U.S. and Japan are on one side, while China is on the other, their front of conflict sweeping from the Korean Peninsula to the South China Sea. Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist, made known the U.S. obsession with China in the typical Thucydides' trap and its determination to win as the old power often did.
The outlook is familiar and alien at once. At the turn of the 20th century, Korea was subjugated and annexed by Japan, an Asian colonial power aided and abetted by Western powers that wanted to keep Russia in check and share the spoils from a China in decline. Japan bit the hand that fed it when it attacked the U.S.
The chaos is as familiar as then, but who will come out as winner in the new game of thrones is hard to guess. Then, where would South Korea fit in this looming map of war? That is the question we collectively need to contemplate and try to answer with a sense of urgency.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led his ruling Liberal Democrats to a landslide victory in the Lower House snap elections, and through a conservative coalition will no doubt attain a two-thirds majority to change its so-called pacifist Constitution, enabling his country to be more assertive militarily and diplomatically.
Abe's victory was made possible due to the divided and weakened opposition that couldn't provide an alternative for voters. That gives Abe free rein to ignore the lessons of history and take his country back on the "Nippon-first" path. Last time it was on that track, Asia was on fire set by Japan's colonial misadventure during World War II at the cost of millions of lives. The vestiges of horror are plentiful _ comfort women sex slaves, the Rape of Nanking and two atomic bomb explosions, to name a few.
As if Abe alone isn't making the regional outlook horrible enough, he has a friend in the destructionist U.S. President Donald Trump, who is striving to make his country great again at all costs _ trashing Washington's traditional alliances and telling the world they are all second-rate citizens below Americans.
The two leaders have been on the same page about North Korea over its nuclear and missile brinkmanship. Trump threatened to rain down "fire and fury" on Pyongyang before it completes its nuclear-armed missiles that are capable of hitting American population centers.
Abe has also put the North on notice after Pyongyang launched missiles that flew over the country twice.
Abe's victory is attributed to popular fear of North Korea.
Now, the rejuvenated Abe, when combined with the Trumpian assertiveness, could result in a more force-based approach on the North.
Adding to the potent mix is Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader who seeks to elevate his status to that of the nation's founder Mao Zedong during the ongoing People's Congress in Beijing. Xi amply made clear during his opening speech that "his" China would stand up to any power, meaning the U.S. The big picture has it that the U.S. and Japan are on one side, while China is on the other, their front of conflict sweeping from the Korean Peninsula to the South China Sea. Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist, made known the U.S. obsession with China in the typical Thucydides' trap and its determination to win as the old power often did.
The outlook is familiar and alien at once. At the turn of the 20th century, Korea was subjugated and annexed by Japan, an Asian colonial power aided and abetted by Western powers that wanted to keep Russia in check and share the spoils from a China in decline. Japan bit the hand that fed it when it attacked the U.S.
The chaos is as familiar as then, but who will come out as winner in the new game of thrones is hard to guess. Then, where would South Korea fit in this looming map of war? That is the question we collectively need to contemplate and try to answer with a sense of urgency.
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