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Views from Japan

March 2005

[International]

JAPAN-CHINA RELATIONS / "Six Common Fallacies"

In "Six Common Fallacies," Aoyama Gakuin University Professor Kazuo Ogoura reveals his opinions on the discord between China and Japan over the question of history, the warm economic relations and chilly political ties between these two nations, the concept of an East Asian Community, and other matters. Commenting on the issue of history, Ogoura notes that for both Japan and China, World War II is a matter that has not been entirely laid to rest. Japan must forever ponder the significance of its defeat and occasionally reflect anew on the path it took to war, he asserts. The winner, he states, is called on to "be satisfied with victory alone, that is to say, to show mercy to the defeated." The problem, he argues, is that China has forgotten that it won the war and continues to stress the fact that it was "invaded by Japan." He urges the Chinese leadership to distinguish between the Japanese militarists at the time and the Japanese people as a whole.

Addressing the concept of an East Asian Community centered on Japan, China, and South Korea, Ogoura states that for Japan the strategic value of such a community would outweigh its economic benefits or cultural significance. He gives four reasons: (1) It would help preserve Chinese unity; (2) it would bring North Korea into the international community and would play a crucial role in the search for a path to Korean reunification; (3) it would serve to prevent Russia and the United States from attempting to drive a wedge between Japan and China; and (4) it would lessen friction between Japan and China by having South Korea play a coordinating role. ("'Joshiki' ni hisomu mutsu no ayamari," Ronza, March 2005.)