China vital to E. Asian community

Motoshige Itoh, The Daily Yomiuri, Asia News Network, Tokyo

Seirei keinetsu is a term used by analysts to describe the current state of Japanese-Chinese relations. It literally translates as, "While economic relations are warming up, political ties remain chilly."

A host of political problems need to be resolved. These include Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine and toxic gas bombs left behind by the Imperial Japanese Army in China. Another problem is the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands -- Daioyu in Chinese -- in the East China Sea, which has been complicated by conflicting claims to natural resources around the islands.

However, economic relations are a different story as Japan and China have become increasingly interdependent.

The fear that China's economic growth and deflationary pressures emanating from that country threatened the Japanese economy has turned out to be without foundation. Many Japanese economists now believe China's surging economic growth has been a boon to this country.

Many Japanese companies have been keen making capital investments in China and bilateral trade and investment have expanded significantly. As a result, many companies believe it is next to impossible to survive intense global competition without achieving success in China.

China's gross domestic product is almost certain to surpass Japan's in the not too distant future. China's GDP eventually could exceed that of the United States, making the country the world's top economic powerhouse. Japan cannot chart its Asian strategy without considering how to forge better relations with China.

But if Japan tilts toward China and other countries in Asia, Japan's relations with the United States could undergo subtle and significant changes.

As can be seen in past Japan-U.S. relations, the greater the number of exchanges, the greater the interdependence. This naturally leads to a wider range of disputes.

What seems beautiful when regarded from afar can often be ugly when looked at more closely.

One of the major tasks in Japan-China diplomacy is to find out whether the two countries can successfully enhance their interdependency by dealing satisfactorily with pending bilateral problems. Both sides should ponder how to accomplish this.

In connection with bilateral relations, Japan and China should work together to build a good relationship, while understanding and recognizing the differences between the two countries.

If one party insists that another party do everything the former does, good relations will be impossible. The phrase "affable, but not adulatory" is truly significant when we consider the pursuit of favorable international relations in the age of globalization. When I was in Beijing recently, there were TV broadcasts of the ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy.

Among the leaders attending the ceremony was Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany, the enemy of the Allies in World War II. His attendance was symbolic of the current move toward European integration.

Of course, we cannot make simplistic comparisons between Europe and Asia. The process of European integration has continued over a long period of time. But it still holds an important lesson for Japan, which envisions an East Asian community.

Europe integrated against the background of wars between Germany and France, partly over economic resources. These two countries, along with many others, eventually came to the view that to prevent more wars, it was essential to create a single confederation -- a single political, economic and social entity.

In pursuit of this ideal, European nations started by creating the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952 and, over the course of half a century, formed the Greater Europe of today.

I was not alone in the Japan-China 21st Century Committee meeting in juxtaposing Japan-China relations with those between Germany and France, which led to the creation of the European Union. On this point, a Chinese committee member noted, "Petroleum, food and other resource-related problems loom large in the growth of the Chinese economy."

But he added, "In tackling these problems, China and Japan should act as prudently as possible to ensure that the two countries can resolve them through cooperation, not confrontation."

We should avoid comparing the moves toward European integration -- a process that has so far taken more than half a century -- with the future of Japanese-Chinese relations.

Nevertheless, we can draw many lessons from Europe concerning its step-by-step effort to reach greater degrees of alliance and integration by considering relations among European nations from a long-range perspective.

European integration has been achieved because of the steadfast endeavors by European nations to pursue a grandiose goal from a wide-range perspective, undaunted by potentially explosive problems during the integration process.

The Japan-China committee has "21st Century" in its name to indicate its awareness of the importance of a far-reaching and large-scale program that is conducive to encouraging Asian nations, including Japan and China, to increase cooperation. Undoubtedly the East Asia region will face many difficult problems in the future, as was the case in the past.

The Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait are regional hot spots, and conflicts have occurred over territorial claims involving oil and other resources.

Koizumi is pressing ahead with his East Asian community initiative, but this country must redouble its efforts to promote the community through steady, tangible means. These include Japan's talks with other countries on economic partnership agreements, increasing personnel exchanges, and expediting direct investment and energy-related cooperation.

But one thing must be kept in mind. An East Asian community will be impossible without the participation of China.

The writer is a professor at Tokyo University's graduate school of economics and guest research fellow of the Yomiuri Research Institute.