Entering "Enemy" Territory
So it seems these days when Chinese walks around in the streets of Tokyo. Of course, unless we open our mouths, no one would know, but public opinion is public opinion after all...just seeing the guy next to you on the commuter train reading a newspaper article titled "China's Ambitions to Take Over the East Sea" can't possibly be very pleasing for myself and millions of other Chinese who are in this country.
And then comes the news that Japan rejects Chinese demands for apology and in exchange issues a demand for financial reparations. I really wonder if the government is heeding the call of the people on this particular issue, on both sides. There are few bilateral economic relationships as close and interrelated as the one between Japan and China, with goods and personnel constantly crossing the borders.
As much as citizens on both sides have certain negative images about each other, no one, even on the extreme right, can deny the existing benefits of economic cooperation. Furthermore, the appearance of the Japanese society does not seem like one ready for any open conflict. While the newspapers released its adrenaline-pumped "analyses" of the situation, the people seem to remain wary and nonchalant at most.
China as the bad guy is not new here in Japan or many other parts of the world. Chinese people don't get good treatments around here (Japanese are of course polite to everyone on the surface, but it is evident some foreigners gets better impressions than others). Similarly, Japanese people get occasional verbal abuse when they walk through China.
But dragging public opinion along as an evidence for effectiveness of some government foreign policy made behind some closed door is simply scarring. The public won't notice certain confronting issues if the government keep a lid on it. If the government remains silent, the people on both sides may gradually reduce negative outlooks generated, above everything else, histories from decades ago.
As the ignorant rally to the government cause, its the business elite that suffers. According to my uncle who works in a Japanese company on a collaboration project with a Chinese factory, for China to simply annul an established two-weeks visa free travel policy for Japanese citizens can dramatically slows down business traffic. Negotiations can be bogged down when personnel transits are delayed.
Time is money in business. And business is only possible when the risk of capital loss can be minimized with enough political and legal frameworks. If China and Japan resorts to brinkmanship over an issue that has been kept silent until now, what does the future hold for business? Obviously it cannot possibly be bright. The anxiety cannot be good for future economic expansions.
And come to think of it, business may be the only thing that keeps ethnic and political tensions from boiling over. Business is what brought China and Japan to normalize relations, and maintaining its benefits have been the driving force behind China's unwritten rule of silence on most foreign affairs. For someone who will now enter a profession based on good economic relations between the two, I would not like to see a change in the status quo.
And then comes the news that Japan rejects Chinese demands for apology and in exchange issues a demand for financial reparations. I really wonder if the government is heeding the call of the people on this particular issue, on both sides. There are few bilateral economic relationships as close and interrelated as the one between Japan and China, with goods and personnel constantly crossing the borders.
As much as citizens on both sides have certain negative images about each other, no one, even on the extreme right, can deny the existing benefits of economic cooperation. Furthermore, the appearance of the Japanese society does not seem like one ready for any open conflict. While the newspapers released its adrenaline-pumped "analyses" of the situation, the people seem to remain wary and nonchalant at most.
China as the bad guy is not new here in Japan or many other parts of the world. Chinese people don't get good treatments around here (Japanese are of course polite to everyone on the surface, but it is evident some foreigners gets better impressions than others). Similarly, Japanese people get occasional verbal abuse when they walk through China.
But dragging public opinion along as an evidence for effectiveness of some government foreign policy made behind some closed door is simply scarring. The public won't notice certain confronting issues if the government keep a lid on it. If the government remains silent, the people on both sides may gradually reduce negative outlooks generated, above everything else, histories from decades ago.
As the ignorant rally to the government cause, its the business elite that suffers. According to my uncle who works in a Japanese company on a collaboration project with a Chinese factory, for China to simply annul an established two-weeks visa free travel policy for Japanese citizens can dramatically slows down business traffic. Negotiations can be bogged down when personnel transits are delayed.
Time is money in business. And business is only possible when the risk of capital loss can be minimized with enough political and legal frameworks. If China and Japan resorts to brinkmanship over an issue that has been kept silent until now, what does the future hold for business? Obviously it cannot possibly be bright. The anxiety cannot be good for future economic expansions.
And come to think of it, business may be the only thing that keeps ethnic and political tensions from boiling over. Business is what brought China and Japan to normalize relations, and maintaining its benefits have been the driving force behind China's unwritten rule of silence on most foreign affairs. For someone who will now enter a profession based on good economic relations between the two, I would not like to see a change in the status quo.
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