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China Can Make It Without Japan
When China is hailing the success of its Shenzhou VI manned space mission, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi once again visited Yasukuni War Shrine. This outraged all the Asian nations and its economic fallout is spreading.Get used to it, bub. I don't think he's going to stop going. Together with the perennial conflicts between China and Japan on issues like the oil and gas exploitation on the East China Sea and the history textbook controversies, this thoughtless act of Koizumi has undoubtedly strained the already tensed-up relationship. Sino-Japanese economic ties are experiencing a political freeze. This surely undermines both economies. Like China's maps with the inset portion that include the Spratly Islands? Although in 2004, Japan, once China's leading trade partner, yielded its position to the EU and the US, it remains among the troika that claims importance to China's foreign trade. With its economy and foreign trade growing by 9% and 16% annually, China has become a typical export-driven economy, its export trade being one of the major engines that fuel its GDP growth. Another thing that merits notice is that foreign-funded businesses account for half of the foreign traders. Up to the end of 2003, Japanese-funded businesses were estimated at 28,000, 6% of the total number of foreign investments in China. Their presence in China's export trade is definitely something to be reckoned with. As predicted by some experts, during this gloomy spell of Sino-Japanese trade, China's GDP growth may be briefly upset, or drop by 2%. Be it true or not, the detrimental effect of the political freeze remains a fact. Damn our people's jobs! We've got to use this situation to make waves. The aggravating Sino-Japanese relationship will inevitably injure the interest of Japanese-funded businesses in China. Meanwhile, it may also produce a negative impact on China's job market and intellectual property rights utilization. So, get ready for red tape in customs and taxi drivers who won't pick you up if you're Japanese. Without doubt, China's economic development could still stand well without Japan. However, should the breakup of the two economies, which are mutually inclusive, truly happen due to political divergence, it would indeed be a sorrowful sight to both sides. It's weird seeing this kind of temper tantrum published as official government propaganda. Posted by: gromky 2005-11-03 |
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