I have been harsh on MOFA at times. This time, I had
some nice things to say in response to a link that I received today. (I don’t
follow the foreign media on Japan as assiduously as I used to, though I
probably should.) I’m posting them here, with minor edits including links.
I believe that this
WaPo op-ed by the Japanese ambassador
in Washington, a response to this
op-ed by his Chinese counterpart, is an effective departure from the
typical unmemorable response in the war of words (and sometimes more) that has
made the Japanese look, at best, conciliatory and, at worst, appeasing. The
conventional wisdom among China hands in Japan outside of the old MOFA China
school is that you have to push back against the Chinese before finding the
middle ground. This the Japanese ambassador does here to good effect, leavening
his charges by playing up Prime Minister Abe’s acts and words on the occasion
of his Yasukuni visit to the full.
Two things made this response possible. One is the
obvious resolve and conviction of the prime minister. But the other is one that
will likely go unmentioned; the assumption that China will not hit back where
it will most hurt the Abe administration, namely Japanese exports to and
investments in China. The brittleness of the legitimacy of the authoritarian
regime ensures that the CCP for now is resolved to do its best to keep the
initiative firmly in official hands. I have no idea how long this state of
affairs within China will last, but the Japanese authorities are well advised
to take advantage of it in the meantime.
BTW I love the resurrection of the word “propaganda,”
whose deliberate—“anachronistic” propaganda, indeed!—overtones of charges laid
against the Soviets during the Cold War should resonate in Washington. I see
the hand of the Japan hands, whose key members surely must have been consulted
by MOFA and/or the prime minister’s office, behind it. All the better for
Japanese diplomacy, though, if MOFA came up with it on its own.
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