Why do Taiwanese people like Japan? Why do Japanese people like the U.S.?
When I said “the American army did not commit genocide after the U.S. occupied Japan, and instead turned Japan into a democratic country, so Japanese people do not hate the U.S.,” my French-Canadian teacher responded, “Because Douglas MacArthur was a good person and if he were a bad person, things would be different.”
I then remembered what my Taiwanese friend said to me, “Japan colonized Taiwan but the Japanese military in Taiwan treated Taiwanese people nicely, so many Taiwanese people like Japan. On the other hand Chinese people from main land China killed many Taiwanese people.” Actually not only my Taiwanese friend but also many other Taiwanese people I met in the U.S. said to me “I like Japan.” Many foreigners have said, “I like Japan” when they meet me but I feel that Taiwanese people like Japan more than any other foreigners because it seems that they say so from the bottom of their hearts. However, the first time I heard this, I was a little surprised because I knew that Japan colonized Taiwan.
This is in contrast to Korean people who hate Japan because Japan colonized Korea. One of reasons is that the Japanese army in Korea treated Korean people badly. The Japanese government at that time treated its own people poorly as well.
I have heard that because the U.S. was successful in exporting democracy to Japan, they think that they could do the same in Iraq. But I am wondering if things are so simple. First, Japan and Hong Kong are happy with western democracy and freedom while India, Egypt and the Middle East are not happy with western values because they are religious. Japanese people believed in Buddhism, Shinto and Confucianism but all these are more like a philosophy rather than a religion, and Chinese people believe not in a religion but their Chinese values such as Chinocentrism, family ties and Confucianism. I feel that people who are not religious can be more open-minded to new ideas and different cultures. The second reason is that U.S. society has changed much since 1945 and I believe that the U.S. in 1945 was better in many ways. Now I am wondering if current American society can bring something good to Iraq like it did to Japan.
Very, very interesting post!
Relating to whether or not we Americans will be able to truly successfully export democracy to Iraq as we did with Japan in 1945, this is what I have to say:
Part of the problem, I think, is the fact that unlike what happened in Japan, there has been an ongoing insurgency. While it doesn’t have the same death toll, the current situation in Iraq is more comparable to Vietnam than Japan. Like the Viet Cong, the insurgents attack and then hide among the locals, making themselves very difficult to weed out. Furthermore, the U.S military is not often successful in waging counterinsurgencies.
Thus, I remain doubtful that my country’s military will be able to facilitate a fully democratic, inclusive government in Iraq.
By the way, what was it about 1945 American society that you felt was better than today’s? I’m curious.
thirdstring_overlord
2008/04/27
Hi thirdstring_overlord,
Thank you for your comments. I heard that the U.S. had a time when no one stole your car even though you left it unlocked on the street. Also I feel that old American movies are much more intelligent than current ones. This is why I feel that American society in 1945 was better than present.
I do not think that the purpose was to export democracy when the U.S. fought with Japan during WWII. At the time, the U.S. just wanted to defeat Japan.
As for not having insurgency during the U.S. occupation in Japan, Japanese people had already imported some western culture before WWII and enjoyed it. In the Taisho era (1912-1926) we had a big movement for democracy –- Japanese style democracy. So, in 1945 Japanese people were ready to be westernized.
japaneseview
2008/06/22
I don’t think democracy was exported to Hong Kong, the British ruled Hong Kong without reference to the people there and that’s why it became liberal and not a far-right self-governing state like Singapore, it was only when the game was up and it was on the point of being handed over to China that democratic systems were installed. I think I may see your point; under the Truman doctrine there was a theory to create model capitalist states to show up the poverty of the communist bloc, so the US were interested in creating a strong and stable mini-me country in the east. Also the occupation of Japan came after a long war in which the Japanese went from success to defeat. Iraq is a subjugating occupation caused by a war of conquest; the Iraqis were never winning and never stood a chance, it wasn’t really a war, more an extermination. The US and their allies just want to exploit it and install a puppet government that will sell out it’s own people to cater to corporate interests; everyone knows this to be the case and that is why the war is so unpopular at home and in the rest of the world.
I think Taiwanese like Japan because Taiwan was ruled by the mainland capital before and was a poor island that was still in an empire. Also Taiwan’s history is one made by ex-GMD who fought the CCP rather than the Japanese invaders. Korea was a quasi-independent vassal of the Qing, but I think the reason Koreans hate Japanese so much isn’t because of the colonialism; Korea’s whole modernisation and nationhood is based on Japanese models, Korea has a relatively repressive government still based on colonial models and the chaebol are copies of the zaibatsu. Koreans hate Japanese so much because Koreans are racial supremacists, intolerant and need a scapegoat for all their internal problems which they can’t address because it would shatter the idea that Koreans are superior to others, especially Japanese. They make insane accusations in mainstream parlance, like Confucius was Korean, kanji is Korean, Korea single-handedly won the Second World War, Japan is stopping Korean integration. They also hate Chinese people and they weren’t really colonised by China.
Dan
2010/06/16
Wow
All of this is really very very interesting.
kimiko100able
2010/06/30
“…it was only when the game was up and it was on the point of being handed over to China that democratic systems were installed.”
Oh, you mean like over 40 years before the hand-over, to the chagrin of the Chinese government?
Yes, what a desperate struggle to create legislation in such a short period of time.
ExC
2010/08/12