2y ago

'You can never become a Westerner:' China's top diplomat urges Japan and South Korea to align with Beijing and 'revitalize Asia' | CNN

edition.cnn.com 'You can never become a Westerner:' China's top diplomat urges Japan and South Korea to align with Beijing and 'revitalize Asia' | CNN

China’s top diplomat has urged Japan and South Korea to foster a sense of “strategic autonomy” from the West and cooperate with Beijing to “revitalize Asia,” amid rising tensions between China and the two neighboring American allies.

19 comments

This is the kind of shit Japan said about its Great East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere when it basically subjugated a lot of its neighbors prior to WWII... I hope history won't repeat itself in such a way.
- I came here to mention Japan's "Asia for Asians" campaign in the early 1900s. Glad to see I'm not the only history nerd commenting on this post!
- No. Japan embraced European racial ideology but still wanted its own empire. This was problematic for Japanese imperialists because Europeans considered them as lesser life forms, and reiterated this in the League of Nations. Thus, capitalist Japan has always had to have a contradictory view of race, wanting to be equal to Europeans (and superior to non-Europeans) while not being European.
  This racial view of the world is no longer so overt, but still exists. European leaders still consider themselves a white "garden" compared to the non-white "jungle". Who is considered European, Western, and/or white can be changed. Following the war in Ukraine, Russia has been described as Asian more frequently. For the collaborationist regimes in South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, they are often grouped in as the "West," but because they are undeniably Asian (unlike Russia), they will never be completely accepted. Racists don't ask you for your nationality before they push you off a cliff - they just look at you. Japan & South Korea need to realize that they are Asian instead of begging white supremacists to be honorary whites.
  
  I'm from Europe, and no one here or in america considers Korea or Japan uncivilized or a "jungle". On the opposite, lots of weebs and kpop/kdrama fans all around.
  Most of the world has moved over the concept of race, and political ideologies are what now unite people. And Korea and Japan, being democracies, belong with "western" democracies more than China. China knows this, and they try to play on feelings about race and geopraphy

Kiiiiinda hard for South Korea to hear that with a straight face, considering China sided with NK pretty significantly in the Korean War and considers NK an ally (or at least definitely within their sphere of influence) to this day.
- The Americans in charge will cope and seethe, but they'll understand.
- lol yeah that too! Chinese provided the millions of troops to the North for the invasion didn't they. And are sustaining the North Korean regime economically to this day.

Yeah, East Asia will ally with Beijing when Beijing actually decides to see the rest of East Asia as equals and not just former tributary nations. (Believe me, I'm Chinese, this is unfortunately all too common a superiority complex that Chinese people have.)
It's not that they want to be Westerners, it's that they don't want to be bullied by the regional superpower, and the other world superpower supports them in resisting Beijing.

Very unconstructive to pose the world as westerners and not westerners.
Talk of joining "westerners" and everyone instead and not this polarization
Russia should be proof enough that humanity doesn't need rogue states

Starting to smell fear from China. Maybe they are starting to realize they aren’t as great as they thought

So China is accepting Japan into their midst and getting all buddy-buddy?
How very Nanking of them...
China will never ever consider Japan as an equal or viable partner. Breaking the bond between West and Japan? Sure, they are all about that but being buddies and accepted into China? Never ever happening.

The West is so fucked. No more Petro Dollar, not enough time for a working CDBC (I think?), its civilization has been forcefully separated into small individualized groups that are no longer capable of speaking to each other or feeling compassion for each other, capitalist vultures just waiting to profit off of the collapse, politicians are paid, putting on a show, geriatric millionaires are reliving 80s straight to TV political thrillers on cheap stages. Europe is too dependant on the US, the Ukraine war is a meat grinder proxy war. Protests are erupting in France, Switzerland, Belgium and I suspect that's not the last we're going to see of mass protests and police brutality in Europe. Meanwhile Western governments are headed to become more authoritarian to stay in power unless Europe turns away from transatlantic submission to face the reality of a multipolar order. I worry there will be lots of conflict from this because certain people want to stay in power. (Not a dog whistle in any specific direction.)
BRICS is happening. Africa is rising up to flight Western economic colonialism by demanding fair treatment. The current global economic system leads to rising nationalism, people no longer raising kids, social systems failing, slave labor in poor countries, religious radicalism and unnecessary culture clashes (fixable, if anyone in charge actually gave a fuck about proper integration with dignity).
- You're free to keep bathing yourself in ignorance. Hope it's comfy.
- I should add that I'm in no way underestimating authoritarian imperialist ambitions of Russia/China as another source for danger to freedom.

This is quite rich for China to ask while constantly complaining about being victimized by Japan during WWII while not a peep has come out of them about the shaming they suffered during Opium wars when western nations effectively carved up China to spheres of influence. Not to mention the seizing of neighbor's islands and territories through force while proclaiming it as theirs because an insane Chinese monarch once sent out a bunch of rickety boats into the seas centuries ago. I suggest Chinese tidy up their over-all diplomatic messaging and strategy first.
- Are you saying China benefited from the Opium Wars?
  
  Oh good, the obligate Lemmy tankies are here.
- not a peep has come out of them about the shaming they suffered during Opium wars when western nations effectively carved up China to spheres of influence
  The century of humiliation is something that is mentioned by the Chinese government a lot, I'm not sure what you meant by this.

19 comments