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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Japan Welcomes Lee, Gives China Fits |
| 2004-12-20 |
| Japan said on Monday it would issue a visa as scheduled for former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui to visit for sightseeing despite angry protests from China. "How do ya like them soybeans, eh?" Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have already been chilled by a string of disputes, including one over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are honored with other Japanese war dead. Not bright to piss Japan off - they can play hardball and they've got long memories, too. "We plan to issue a visa as scheduled," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters. He did not say when the visa would be issued for the outspoken Lee. And that's that, bubb. Beijing, which sees self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as a renegade Chinese province, has lodged a protest with Japan over its decision to let Lee visit and urged Tokyo to scrap the plan. "But, but you can't do that! You'll ruin everything!" The 81-year-old Lee and his family are expected to arrive in Nagoya in central Japan on Dec. 27 and visit hot springs before leaving for home on Dec. 31, Japanese media said. Hosoda urged media not to follow Lee and report about his trip as his journey was "private" with no political intentions. Take a chill pill, Mr Whiney Dragon... Lee tried to raise Taiwan's diplomatic profile during his 12 years as president, redefining the island's ties with China as "special state-to-state" relations in 1999 and causing Beijing to break off fence-mending negotiations to this day. "He was impossible! He considered us as mere peers!" Lee stepped down as president in 2000 and became "spiritual leader" of a new party with an avid pro-independence stance. Lee last came to Japan in 2001 for medical treatment, triggering an angry response from Beijing. China pretty much defines faithless friend, obnoxious neighbor, and obvious foe. |
| Posted by:.com |
| #6 Let's not forget the military exercises with Austrialia. Things are getting cozy over thar in the Asian-Pac. A little ying for your yang, and such. |
| Posted by: Capt America 2004-12-20 5:20:56 PM |
| #5 FG: I think it might be advantageous to let the Chinese know we see their whining and carping as childish behavior. I think this approach is what the liberals want - this would mean that getting rid of China's alleged inferiority complex is all it would take to tame the Chinese dragon. But the problem isn't that they lack self-confidence - it's that they want a bunch of things that don't belong to them and rightfully belong to other people. The problem with the Chinese is territorial acquisitiveness (i.e. greed) and the kind of sense of aggrieved victimhood (resentment) that led to German territorial expansion in the 1930's. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-12-20 10:56:19 AM |
| #4 ZF: true, and we always worry how we are seen in other's eyes. I think it might be advantageous to let the Chinese know we see their whining and carping as childish behavior. They seem to have no problems with acting in our affairs (a la Clinton/Gore $) and if we choose to supply Taiwan and treat them as an independent country/ally, we should make it clear that we will do so, regardless of WTF Hu thinks about it |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-12-20 10:47:06 AM |
| #3 FG: I would remind China that such fits are unseemly for a country of the stature they believe themselves to be. My guess here is that bullying is seen as a sign of weakness. I've always thought of this as Fraudian analysis, where the obvious (strength) is interpreted as its opposite (weakness). However, the reality is that only strong countries can bully other countries. Lack of bullying by a great power is not evidence of strength - it is evidence of magnanimity and generosity. Neither trait has traditionally been associated with the Chinese empire, except with respect to vassal states that obeyed Chinese dictates and were seen as future additions to the Chinese empire. The Chinese are strong, but neither generous nor magnanimous. Do not mistake bullying tactics for weakness or the mythical (Fraudian) inferiority complex - bullies think they are superior to the rest of us, not inferior. When they can't get their way, they believe that it is their right as our betters to get their way by means fair or foul. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-12-20 10:40:53 AM |
| #2 I would remind China that such fits are unseemly for a country of the stature they believe themselves to be. STFU |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-12-20 9:47:18 AM |
| #1 This works in several ways, not just the obvious. It lets China know that if it gets too obnoxious, Japan might form an alliance with Taiwan. Imagine how apoplectic that would make the Chinese. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-12-20 9:28:09 AM |