Why Angela but not Abe?

By Jason Lim

Last year marked the 70th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion on D-Day, widely considered the beginning of the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany by the Allied forces. Eighteen world leaders attended the ceremony, including the American President, French President, Queen of England, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The remarkable things about Merkel's attendance was how natural it seemed that the current German leader would attend a ceremony marking an invasion against her nation. The separation between today's Germany and Nazi Germany is so complete that it actually feels awkward, and even wrong, to identify the Nazi's with today's Germany, although they are, in fact, one and the same nation.

Contrast that with the controversies surrounding this week's celebration by China of what's officially called, "Commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of Victory of Chinese People's Resistance against Japanese Aggression and World Anti-Fascist War."

It's certainly a mouthful, which I noticed often happens when you try to translate formal titles or names into another language. I also have to note a grammatical mistake in that it sounds like the Chinese people are resisting the "Anti-Fascist War." I am pretty sure they meant the opposite.

And guess who's not coming to the 70thcommemoration? You guessed it: Kim Jong-un.

Wait. That's another column. Sorry.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe isn't coming either. Which, I am sure, shocked pretty much no one. Even more, Japan doesn't want U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to go, which he is. Japan believes that the U.N should remain neutral by not going. Ironically, Japan's Asahi Shimbun stated in an editorial that the Xi Jinping administration's "approach to ruling the nation is reminiscent of the totalitarianism that raged in the world until the end of the war 70 years ago." So, they are accusing today's China of acting like yesterday's Japan. Not sure if they really thought out their argument.

China isn't happy that Japan is trying to rain on her V-Day parade and strongly criticized Japan for butting in. In any case, this isn't about Japan: "I'd like to reaffirm that the commemorations do not target any specific country, neither today's Japan nor the Japanese people in general," said Zhang Ming, China's deputy foreign minister, according to UPI. I guess we were supposed to overlook the "against Japanese Aggression" part of the official event name.

So, the obvious question is, if Angela can go to 70th D-Day anniversary, why can't Abe go to the 70th anniversary of Chinese V-day event?

I don't ask this question to Japan bash. We all know how Germany and Japan each dealt with their respective WWII histories and the different circumstances and decisions that led to dissimilar outcomes. To be fair, results speak for themselves. Germany's policies allowed the European Union to happen, and Japan's policies resulted in an endless stream of recriminations and non-apologies that more resemble a Mean Girls sequel than statecraft.

I only ask the above question to show how deeply East Asia is still mired in her past. And how dangerous this is. For Korea.

China, buoyed by its recently earned G2 status, is flexing its diplomatic muscle through this event. This is the latest of a series of globally visible events that showcase a rising China. At the same time, China also has significant domestic challenges, not the least of which is the tanking stock market. As all leaders throughout history have done when faced with internal challenges, they create an external "other" that they can focus their people's attention on.

Japan, of course, feeds right into this by playing coy with her history. It's understandable that Japan wants to become a "normal nation" again by rehabilitating its military's role. Unfortunately, Japan is doing this on top of an internal historical narrative that places Japan as Asia's noble but doomed defender against Western imperialist aggression. In short, Japan views herself as a victim while China views Japan as the aggressor. This is a fundamentally irreconcilable view of history that their children will be carrying with them into the next decades. It certainly does not bode well for the future relationship between Japan and China.

And it certainly does not bode well for Korea, fated to be stuck between Japan and China as the tension between the two powers simmers ever more hotly. And Japan is not just Japan. In a very real way, Japan projects the U.S. interests in the region.

With Korea's economic health tied to China and her national security dependent on the U.S. ― not to mention Japan as Korea's fourth largest export destination ― Korea needs to step gingerly across the minefield. Also, it doesn't help to have a crazy uncle in North Korea living upstairs in the attic with a healthy dose of paranoia and a nuclear bomb or two.

Given this, perhaps Korean leaders should start thinking of the big picture with Japan right about now? Speaking about history, in any fight between China and Japan, who always ends up getting squashed in the middle?

Jason Lim is a Washington, D.C.-based expert on innovation, leadership and organizational culture. He has been writing for The Korea Times since 2006. He can be reached at jasonlim@msn.com, facebook.com/jasonlimkoreatimes and @jasonlim2012.

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