Teaser: the hypocrisy of praising sex, Noynoy’s follies, the entertaining Koreas, nuclear Japan, and Tyler Cowen defending Bruce Cumings

• Is Japan’s Apology a New Beginning?

Japan’s efforts to atone for its past atrocities are worthy of recognition. But Kan’s statement is still insufficient for Korea to accept and move on. Around 1,000 Korean and Japanese intellectuals have claimed that the 1910 Annexation Treaty signed by Korea and Japan was invalid and demanded that this be reflected in Kan’s apology. But it was not. There was also no mention of the Korean women who were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. For almost 20 years, the women, whom Japan euphemistically referred to as “comfort women,” have protested in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul every Wednesday come rain or shine. And there was no mention of compensation for Korean forced labor in Japan.

Japan’s apology and the return of cultural treasures are only the beginning. If Tokyo wants to free future generations of Japanese from the shackles of its past atrocities and make them honorable members of international society, it must voluntarily confront the historical mess. It is up to Japan to show whether Kan’s apology can be the starting point of a new century of Korea-Japan relations.

• Manila’s clumsy police, confused president

If there was anyone monitoring the situation as broadcast on television and on the ground, it was apparent that authorities were not following Police Operational Procedures on hostage situations. But no authorities higher than the ground commander bothered to correct the situation at several junctures. When the hostage-taker’s brother was being forcefully arrested, an incident that would most surely agitate Roland Mendoza – and it sure did – the authorities did not do anything and alongside them, we watched in horror how the situation spiraled into violence and displays of absolute incompetence.

This is not to say the media is immaculately clean from accountability. Many were stunned by the pornographic live video feed beamed nationwide and worldwide when the editors and executives could have ordered a 10 or 15 minute broadcasting delay. In many instances, the journalists showed on video and described in detail via audio the location and movements of authorities around the hijacked bus. In another instance, journalists were heard laughing amid the terrifying situation. Indeed, August 23 was not the brightest day for responsibility in Philippine journalism and broadcasting as well.

• Noynoy Repeats his Mother’s Mistake

To those who put so much faith in Aquino — those who, perhaps naively, believe that he is a much different person from his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and that he respects human rights because, as his spokesmen always point out, he and his family had been victims, too – this decision to extend Oplan Bantay Laya, the so-called “blueprint for terror,” should come as a rude awakening.

• Thinking the Unthinkable for Korea

In short, there is no harm at all for the South to think seriously about unification issues. But whether it was helpful for President Lee to raise it in this way, as a gesture for domestic political purposes, is another matter entirely.

• Is Another Food Crisis Coming?

Two reports, one by the International Food Policy Research Institute on the devastation to wheat stocks in Russia and the Ukraine from drought and fires, and a second on climate change and rice, by the International Rice Research Institute, paint a rather grim picture that has been complicated by some of the worst flooding in history in Pakistan, China and the Indian province of Ladakh.

• The Great Game for the Spratlys

It is the Spratly group which is the main bone of contention, with all claimants overlapping and where the non-Chinese ones need to find some common ground. Vietnam claims all the Spratlys by right of historical occupation even though most of them lie closer to the Philippine and Malaysian coasts.(China’s claims are similarly based on history, real or imagined) The Philippines claims most but not all on a mixture of principles – the archipelago principle, continental shelf, and occupation of empty territory. The Malaysian and Brunei claims are based on the continental shelf principle – the islands lie in seabed of less than 200 meters in depth extending from their coastline.

As of now Vietnam has a presence on about 20, China about nine, the Philippines about eight, Malaysia three and Taiwan just on1 of the islands, rocks and shoals. With such conflicting bases for their claims, as well as the claims themselves, it will be extraordinarily difficult for the non-Chinese nations to get together. Nationalist sentiment runs against abandoning any claims. Seemingly meaningless rocks become national symbols. Nor does it seem likely that they would agree to submit to international arbitration rulings in the way that Malaysia settled disputes with Indonesia and Singapore.

• Japan’s Dark BW Past Re-Emerges
• Rumblings of Change in Japanese Nuclear Policy

It remains to be seen whether Prime Minister Kan will act on the report’s recommendation. Public opposition to nuclear weapons in Japan cannot be overstated, and in a country where recent PMs can’t seem to hold on to power for more than a year, messing with Japan’s long-standing and extremely popular policy of anti-nuclearism would be a pretty brazen move. Also, Japan already enjoys the protection of the U.S. nuclear umbrella, so stationing nuclear weapons on Japanese territory would not further improve Japanese security.

• China Shoots Down a Second Satellite

Given the technology for shooting down satellites has been around since the Cold War, it is hard to see the technological imperative for countries such as China to conduct such tests. While Beijing may have made a political statement (for good or bad) with its 2007 test, if it remains committed to the peaceful use of space then it is hard to understand the advantage of shooting down further satellites. Indeed, with the U.S made Vanguard 1 still in orbit since launch in 1958, one has to wonder why China feels compelled to shoot down satellites that are several decades younger. The debris caused by such tests is a major risk for other space users and given its potential to upset the prospects for a space weapons treaty, it seems evident that China should refrain from further anti-satellite launches.

• Deterrence, North Korea-style

In my own judgment, at least, there’s insufficient evidence to justify the belief that North Korea has produced enough HEU for a nuclear test (if any). And H-bombs? Don’t get me started. Let’s try taking these claims more seriously when it’s the North Koreans themselves making them. Then they’ll have something to prove. By that standard, anyway, we shouldn’t be expecting a third multi-kiloton “bolstering” of whatever variety in the near future.

• The culture that is Japan, markets in everything
• Bruce Cumings and what he deserves

Keep in mind how many history or foreign policy books or essays are written by people who are essentially toadies to power or apologists for the U.S. government, or for some other foreign regime. It is expected that we accept those problematic inclinations and affiliations without comment or condemnation. In contrast to many of the works by establishment historians, Cumings is a breath of fresh air.

• Michael Pettis on the High Odds of Trade War

There are some interesting elements of his presentation. First, although he thinks a trade war is a bad outcome, he also see the odds as low that the trade surplus countries will take the steps needed to rebalance their economies. That brings us to the second point, Pettis, without invoking the word mercantilist, sees the trade surplus countries as taking overly aggressive measures to preserve their positions. This may sit poorly with some readers, who tend to see trade surplus/high savings countries as virtuous, and the trade deficit/debtor nations as wastrels. But the existence of surplus countries requires debtor nations. Deriding the debtors while praising the surplus nations is like saying you thinks sex is sinful but consider babies to be a blessing. Unless you believe in storks as the mechanism for procreation, that position can’t be reconciled.

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Filed under: Books, Business/Economy, East Asia, Korea, Quick Posts, USA, WMD Tagged: benigno aquino, bruce cumings, dprkm rokm china, food, japan, nukes, the philippines, trade, viietnam