As a Christmas gift to local ultranationalists, the Japanese Government decided to give another hard push in favor of bold revisionism. As usual, school textbooks are used as a vehicle for promoting the idea that Dokdo belongs to the Great Empire. And as usual, the Korean Government denounced the infamy (see "Seoul hits Tokyo's new Dokdo stance" - JoongAng Daily 20091226).
This comes not as a surprise but as a disappointment : Hatoyama really seemed to be willing to crush the last throes of fascism in the archipelago, his aides even leaking proofs that Dokdo didn't belonged to Japan (see "The end of Japanese imperialism"). More recently, there were even rumors that the Emperor himself would visit Korea in 2010 to formulate official apologies for past wrongs.
That made me quite nervous : last time the Emperor made a move towards reconciliation, extreme right activists would push as hard as they could, fueling mutual hatred across the region, including China and Russia.
Actually, I'd been expecting this kind of provocations, lately : Hatoyama is much weaker than a few months ago and yes, that's the economy, stupid (stimulus programs won't last eternally and 2010 seems poised to be a tough year). Obviously, his government badly needs support from people he disagrees with.
Once again, if Dokdo doesn't belong to Japan (and that's been indisputably settled for good by the official documents leaked earlier this year), talking about Takeshima has always been about Japanese politics : claiming the islets, visiting Yasukuni, rewriting history books... each provocation comes at a time the ruler is in a defensive position and needs political support at home.
Japanese politicians keep fooling their own citizens and it's high time to expose this dangerous imposture.
blogules 2009 - initially published in Seoul Village ("Revisionist schoolbooks : change has not come to Japan")
Showing posts with label Dokdo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dokdo. Show all posts
20091116
The end of Japanese imperialism
Change has definitely come to Japan. As expected*, Yukio Hatoyama is trying to do the right thing by puting an end to all sick nationalist revivals. And the new P.M. seems to be willing to act quickly, going at the root.
Imperialist nostalgists claim Kuril Islands and Dokdo as theirs ? "An unidentified senior Japanese government official" releases the proof that they don't belong to Japan**.
In the midst of an APEC summit, Japan decides to set the record straight and lead the region the most noble way.
As Barack Obama tours the continent, Japan rejects as false the choice between its own History and its own ideals.
blogules
2009 - initially published on Seoul Village : "According to Japanese law, Dokdo is not Japanese".
* see "A Common History", a dramatic change since "Claiming Dokdo as Takeshima equals claiming Seoul as Gyeongseong"
** see "Japanese Document Shows Dokdo as Foreign Territory" (Chosun Ilbo 20091116) : "Japan's Ministry of Finance issued a notice document numbered 654 on Aug. 15, 1946, a year after Korean independence, that says Dokdo is foreign soil along with Korea, Taiwan, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and the South Sea Islands".
Imperialist nostalgists claim Kuril Islands and Dokdo as theirs ? "An unidentified senior Japanese government official" releases the proof that they don't belong to Japan**.
In the midst of an APEC summit, Japan decides to set the record straight and lead the region the most noble way.
As Barack Obama tours the continent, Japan rejects as false the choice between its own History and its own ideals.
blogules
2009 - initially published on Seoul Village : "According to Japanese law, Dokdo is not Japanese".
* see "A Common History", a dramatic change since "Claiming Dokdo as Takeshima equals claiming Seoul as Gyeongseong"
** see "Japanese Document Shows Dokdo as Foreign Territory" (Chosun Ilbo 20091116) : "Japan's Ministry of Finance issued a notice document numbered 654 on Aug. 15, 1946, a year after Korean independence, that says Dokdo is foreign soil along with Korea, Taiwan, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and the South Sea Islands".
20080922
Taro Aso after Tzipi Livni and before... ?
Hardliners have become so mainstream in Israel that Tzipi Livni passes for a moderate in Tel Aviv. She succeeds Ehud Olmert, who decided to leave on a positive and almost dovish note (yes, I resign because I'm not a perfect man, but Israel didn't behave that well either). Yet, make no mistake : we'll get more of the same.
Ultranationalists have become so influent in Japan that they easily crowned Taro Aso as the "new" Prime Minister. He succeeds Yasuo Fukuda, whose fate was sealed last summer : after understanding that he couldn't run the country without the old Imperialist clique, Fukuda ignited a new controversy with former colony Korea, and he almost won the day when revisionist lobbyists had the Library of Congress change "Dokdo" for "Takeshima" or "Sea of Japan islands" in their labelling systems. But then George W. Bush and Lee Myung-bak went down on their knees, prayed, and put Dokdo back on the US maps*. With Taro Aso, both China and Korea know exactly what to expect from day one : more of the same.
The Israeli, Palestinian, and Japanese people didn't chose their "new" leaders : Kadima and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) decided for them.
Ditto in South Africa : the African National Congress (ANC) picked Kgalema Motlanthe as the interim "leader" between "found guilty of corruption" Thabo Mbeki (who also resigned) and "not found guilty of corruption" Jacob Zuma. When the 2010 World Cup starts, many South Africans may be wishing they'd had more of the same instead of Zuma.
George W. Bush won't resign. But if Americans let the GOP chose his successor, they should know what they will get...
* see "Korea on the Rocks Part II" (Seoul Village, following "Save Dokdo = save Japan! "), or "Le Japon décide de recoloniser Dokdo" (blogules VF)
Ultranationalists have become so influent in Japan that they easily crowned Taro Aso as the "new" Prime Minister. He succeeds Yasuo Fukuda, whose fate was sealed last summer : after understanding that he couldn't run the country without the old Imperialist clique, Fukuda ignited a new controversy with former colony Korea, and he almost won the day when revisionist lobbyists had the Library of Congress change "Dokdo" for "Takeshima" or "Sea of Japan islands" in their labelling systems. But then George W. Bush and Lee Myung-bak went down on their knees, prayed, and put Dokdo back on the US maps*. With Taro Aso, both China and Korea know exactly what to expect from day one : more of the same.
The Israeli, Palestinian, and Japanese people didn't chose their "new" leaders : Kadima and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) decided for them.
Ditto in South Africa : the African National Congress (ANC) picked Kgalema Motlanthe as the interim "leader" between "found guilty of corruption" Thabo Mbeki (who also resigned) and "not found guilty of corruption" Jacob Zuma. When the 2010 World Cup starts, many South Africans may be wishing they'd had more of the same instead of Zuma.
George W. Bush won't resign. But if Americans let the GOP chose his successor, they should know what they will get...
* see "Korea on the Rocks Part II" (Seoul Village, following "Save Dokdo = save Japan! "), or "Le Japon décide de recoloniser Dokdo" (blogules VF)
20060517
Red blogule to Korea's hubs - meanwhile, in China...
While Busan, Incheon and several Seoul areas compete to become Asia's next hub, China plays "baduk" at a much larger level in order to host the future center of Korea.
Claiming Korea's cultural heritage is not enough. Even if their army of revisionist historians don't succeed in putting Koguryo on the Map of China, Beijing's strategic planners will use their multitudes to build a Great Wall of Korea on Chinese soil.
This future "Korean triangle" is meant to become even more powerful than Shanghai. The bay around Dalian being safe from freezing winters, it can compete with both Incheon and Busan and become the ideal spot for the future Eurasian railways terminals - no need to bother completing these silly inter-korean lines boys, we're taking care of everything from Motherland. Look, the "Bay of Korea" bathes our shores, we're not like those naughty Japanese imperialists who renamed the Sea of Korea "Sea of Japan" or worse, called Dokdo "Takeshima" as a tribute to their colonial craft (they say "bamboo island" comes from the shapes of the rocks but we all know how bamboo grows : Takeshima doesn't describe this dust on the sea but celebrates the first implantation of the Empire on a foreign soil).
China's building the ideal home for Koreans, leveraging on its strong local ethnic minority and intending to lure natives from the Korean Peninsula : either from the North (escaping from Hell), or from the South (escaping from a country with the World's lowest fertility rate, an insane education system and fewer opportunities in general) in a XXIst Century wild West gold rush (by the way, while we're at it, why not have some drafting sessions in LA's Koreatown as well ?). Thats a serious threat for a country whose most valuable assets are intangible or related to the very character of its population.
To make it even worse, the recent politico-military deal clinched between Japan and the US further precipitates Seoul in the welcoming arms of Beijing. And Korea can't find much disinterested support from its other giant neighbor Russia. Kofi Annan won't be of much help to Roh Moo-hyun for a better respect of fair play in the region. Korea needs to federate other Asian nations worried about China's and Japan's neo-imperialism, become a herald of cultural, economical and political diversity in the region... without angering Beijing too much because it can't afford it.
Korea can become a hub after all. But only if its major cities play as a team instead of competing with each other.
Claiming Korea's cultural heritage is not enough. Even if their army of revisionist historians don't succeed in putting Koguryo on the Map of China, Beijing's strategic planners will use their multitudes to build a Great Wall of Korea on Chinese soil.
This future "Korean triangle" is meant to become even more powerful than Shanghai. The bay around Dalian being safe from freezing winters, it can compete with both Incheon and Busan and become the ideal spot for the future Eurasian railways terminals - no need to bother completing these silly inter-korean lines boys, we're taking care of everything from Motherland. Look, the "Bay of Korea" bathes our shores, we're not like those naughty Japanese imperialists who renamed the Sea of Korea "Sea of Japan" or worse, called Dokdo "Takeshima" as a tribute to their colonial craft (they say "bamboo island" comes from the shapes of the rocks but we all know how bamboo grows : Takeshima doesn't describe this dust on the sea but celebrates the first implantation of the Empire on a foreign soil).
China's building the ideal home for Koreans, leveraging on its strong local ethnic minority and intending to lure natives from the Korean Peninsula : either from the North (escaping from Hell), or from the South (escaping from a country with the World's lowest fertility rate, an insane education system and fewer opportunities in general) in a XXIst Century wild West gold rush (by the way, while we're at it, why not have some drafting sessions in LA's Koreatown as well ?). Thats a serious threat for a country whose most valuable assets are intangible or related to the very character of its population.
To make it even worse, the recent politico-military deal clinched between Japan and the US further precipitates Seoul in the welcoming arms of Beijing. And Korea can't find much disinterested support from its other giant neighbor Russia. Kofi Annan won't be of much help to Roh Moo-hyun for a better respect of fair play in the region. Korea needs to federate other Asian nations worried about China's and Japan's neo-imperialism, become a herald of cultural, economical and political diversity in the region... without angering Beijing too much because it can't afford it.
Korea can become a hub after all. But only if its major cities play as a team instead of competing with each other.
20060502
Red blogule to Japan's neofascists - forget Takeshima and Mandchukuo
On April 31st, Young People's Comrades black trucks would cruise Tokyo, with mock missiles on their rooftops and loudspeakers blasting calls for young warriors to join the neo-fascist organisation, a member of the far-far-right Zen-Ai Kaigi alliance.
"Japan Youth" ? I could only see septuagenarians in those trucks ; the kind who long for the Showa era (not for the late Hirohito's granddaddy image but for the early Hirohito's imperialist spree), their don Corleone faces as animated as that of Leonid Brezhnev on his last May the 1st.
Meanwhile, the site of the MOFA (Ministry Of Foreign Affairs)* maintains its utterly revisionist position regarding the Korean islets of Dokdo :
"(1) Based on historical facts and international law, it is apparent that Takeshima is an integral part of Japan's sovereign territory.
(2) The occupation of Takeshima by the Republic of Korea is an illegal occupation undertaken with absolutely no basis whatsoever in international law. Any measures taken with regard to Takeshima by the Republic of Korea based on such an illegal occupation have no legal justification."
Here are the actual historical facts :
1) Indeed, Dokdo happened to be Japanese in the past, but only during occupation periods, each time Japan would aggress its peaceful neighbor. If Japan claims Dokdo, it must also claim the whole Korean peninsula.
2) Following a long tradition of eradication of anything Korean, Japan renamed Dokdo "Takeshima" in 1905. Like all the names changed during the occupation period ended with WWII, it was turned back to its original name at the Korean independance. Note that the "Sea of Japan" was never renamed "Sea of Korea".
3) Significantly enough, Dokdo means "remote island" in Korean, which reflects the difficulty for this country to defend this couple of rocks far away from its shores.
4) Significantly enough, Takeshima means "bamboo island" in Japanese, which seems absurd considering the fact not much can grow on these rocky islets but piles of guano. On the other hand, the name makes perfect sense if you know how bamboo reproduces : by its very name, "Takeshima", perfectly symbolizes the first implantation of imperial Japan on Korean soil during the 1905 wave (Dokdo was the first piece of land conquerred).
President Noh Moo-hyun asked PM Junichiro Koizumi to take his responsibilies and demanded the issue to be settled for good. I would love Mr Koizumi to be totally transparent : either he ends this sick fascist revival or he pleases the country's neo-imperialist lobbies and claims back the full Empire.
I'm sure Beijing (another expert in revisionism) will appreciate when Tokyo demands the liberation of Mandchukuo...
"Japan Youth" ? I could only see septuagenarians in those trucks ; the kind who long for the Showa era (not for the late Hirohito's granddaddy image but for the early Hirohito's imperialist spree), their don Corleone faces as animated as that of Leonid Brezhnev on his last May the 1st.
Meanwhile, the site of the MOFA (Ministry Of Foreign Affairs)* maintains its utterly revisionist position regarding the Korean islets of Dokdo :
"(1) Based on historical facts and international law, it is apparent that Takeshima is an integral part of Japan's sovereign territory.
(2) The occupation of Takeshima by the Republic of Korea is an illegal occupation undertaken with absolutely no basis whatsoever in international law. Any measures taken with regard to Takeshima by the Republic of Korea based on such an illegal occupation have no legal justification."
Here are the actual historical facts :
1) Indeed, Dokdo happened to be Japanese in the past, but only during occupation periods, each time Japan would aggress its peaceful neighbor. If Japan claims Dokdo, it must also claim the whole Korean peninsula.
2) Following a long tradition of eradication of anything Korean, Japan renamed Dokdo "Takeshima" in 1905. Like all the names changed during the occupation period ended with WWII, it was turned back to its original name at the Korean independance. Note that the "Sea of Japan" was never renamed "Sea of Korea".
3) Significantly enough, Dokdo means "remote island" in Korean, which reflects the difficulty for this country to defend this couple of rocks far away from its shores.
4) Significantly enough, Takeshima means "bamboo island" in Japanese, which seems absurd considering the fact not much can grow on these rocky islets but piles of guano. On the other hand, the name makes perfect sense if you know how bamboo reproduces : by its very name, "Takeshima", perfectly symbolizes the first implantation of imperial Japan on Korean soil during the 1905 wave (Dokdo was the first piece of land conquerred).
President Noh Moo-hyun asked PM Junichiro Koizumi to take his responsibilies and demanded the issue to be settled for good. I would love Mr Koizumi to be totally transparent : either he ends this sick fascist revival or he pleases the country's neo-imperialist lobbies and claims back the full Empire.
I'm sure Beijing (another expert in revisionism) will appreciate when Tokyo demands the liberation of Mandchukuo...
20050410
Red blogule to Japan - No UN Council seat for an Unrepentant Nation
Japan shouldn't be offered a UN Council seat before they fully apologize for their past and moreover for their unacceptable present continuously devoted to revisionism (Dokdo, Yasukuni Shrine, Comfort Women, history textbooks, even archaeological hoaxes...).
Germany showed the way and can be proud of it. This is worthy of a great nation and a great people, both responsible and respectable.
Japan is simply wrong : just like Bush, Junichiro Koizumi keeps sending the wrong messages at the wrong places and the wrong moments. In order to please hardliners and prevent them from losing face he doesn't realise he actually has his whole country lose face in front of History and the rest of the world. Humility is their only way out of utter humiliation, but this is too disturbing a concept for such a stubborn bunch of fanatics.
I fully support the opposition to a permanent seat for Japan at the UN Council : the world should seize this opportunity and demand a true act of contrition (without the religious flavor, of course), which would be a genuine act of grandeur. Stephane MOT
Germany showed the way and can be proud of it. This is worthy of a great nation and a great people, both responsible and respectable.
Japan is simply wrong : just like Bush, Junichiro Koizumi keeps sending the wrong messages at the wrong places and the wrong moments. In order to please hardliners and prevent them from losing face he doesn't realise he actually has his whole country lose face in front of History and the rest of the world. Humility is their only way out of utter humiliation, but this is too disturbing a concept for such a stubborn bunch of fanatics.
I fully support the opposition to a permanent seat for Japan at the UN Council : the world should seize this opportunity and demand a true act of contrition (without the religious flavor, of course), which would be a genuine act of grandeur. Stephane MOT
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