Japan's malaise due to copying West: Mahathir

Japan's malaise due to copying West: Mahathir

OSAKA (Reuters): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
said on Thursday a Japanese economic recovery was the key to East
Asian prosperity, but that Japan's economic malaise was largely
due to an insistence on aping Western practices.

Speaking at a symposium in the western Japanese city of Osaka,
Mahathir said: "The present economic problem that you seem unable
to overcome is due almost entirely to your attempt to adopt in
toto Western practices and Western norms.

"I suspect that just as the Japanese East Asian Empire ended
in disaster, the Japanese copy of Western ideologies and systems
will have the same end result."

Mahathir lamented that Japan had replaced its own traditional
political, economic and social practices with Western methods and
standards.

"Japan has discarded lifetime employment, cooperation between
the government and the private sector, regional cooperation,
ideology, etc. Even Japanese youths want to be blondes, work less
and play more," he said.

Mahathir has often criticized the West and blamed overseas
speculators for much of the Asian financial crisis that mauled
the region in 1997.

In 1998 Malaysia turned its back on world markets by
instituting strict capital controls and a fixed exchange rate in
a bid to shield the economy and its currency, the ringgit, from
currency speculators. But the country has recently made moves to
encourage foreign investment by permitting foreign equity in
firms such as its flagship airline carrier Malaysian Airline
System Bhd

Despite this, Mahathir had sharp words for speculators on
Thursday, describing them as "predatory commercial giants".

"The idea that the market knows best is promoted by those who
dominate the market and want their financial strength to
determine what is best for themselves," he said.

Mahathir called on Japan to take a more active role in the
Asian economy by getting its own economic house in order and
increasing investment to stimulate other Asian economies.

Closer cooperation between Japan and other Asian nations,
including Malaysia, would enable the region to come up with
measures that would benefit not only Asia but also the rest of
the world, he said.

"For East Asia to recover faster, Japan must play a big role.
Japan has the financial strength and the technology to contribute
towards East Asia's recovery and growth," he added.

"East Asia can consume what Japan produces, more if Japan
helps East Asia to prosper again. First help us to recover by
investing in our countries and setting up the Asian Monetary
Fund."

Some in Asia have called for the establishment of an Asian
version of the International Monetary Fund, which has been
slammed for its handling of the regional financial crisis.

"Many of us think that if Japan and the East Asian countries
work together we can even come up with a model of cooperation for
mutual good for the rest of the world," he said. "That will
include the development of a financial architecture and the
regime for international trade."

Mahathir also issued a ringing call for broader economic
cooperation according to an Asian model.

"By coming together and standing up against unfettered
predatory capitalism and the absolutely free market that it wants
to impose on the world, by offering alternative systems and a
code of ethics, Asia and in particular East Asia, with Japan
playing a leading role, can prevent the headlong rush towards
destruction which the current Western model will certainly lead
us to."