Continuing the discussion between political scientist Atsushi Iwata and Sankei Shimbun deputy editorial writer Rui Sasaki, this article examines the Chinese Communist Party’s information control, Japan’s China policy, the Senkaku Islands, and America’s long-held but ultimately mistaken expectation that economic growth would lead China toward political freedom and democracy.

August 6, 2020
The following is a continuation of the preceding chapter.
The previous chapter introduced a discussion between political scientist Atsushi Iwata and Rui Sasaki, deputy editorial writer of the Sankei Shimbun, concerning China’s influence over international organisations including the WHO, its information control surrounding the novel coronavirus, and its efforts to shift responsibility.
In this chapter, the discussion proceeds further into the Chinese Communist Party’s information warfare, Japan’s policy toward China, the Senkaku Islands, and the long-standing American assumption that economic development would eventually cause China to become democratic.
[Quotation]
[America’s Great Miscalculation]
Iwata:
When it is pursued this thoroughly, one almost feels a strange sense of admiration for its consistency.
Sasaki:
In the case of government spokesmen, if they were to reveal even a small piece of information disadvantageous to the Chinese Communist Party, there is a possibility that not only they themselves but their entire families could be punished.
When their own survival is at stake, they will stop at nothing.
Iwata:
Japanese people value the idea of acting openly and honourably, but in international society the Chinese approach may actually be closer to the norm.
There may be things from which Japanese people should learn.
At the same time, however, if Japanese society as a whole were to become a society in which everyone behaved in that manner, it would become a very bleak place.
Sasaki:
That may be true, but China is highly skilled at information warfare.
We must not be deceived.
This is, after all, a country that even attempts to erase the Tiananmen Square incident from history.
In 1992, the Japanese government sent the Emperor of the time to China in a manner that amounted to political use of the Imperial visit, thereby opening a breach in the international effort to isolate China after sanctions had been imposed.
Iwata:
And the return for that was aggression around the Senkaku Islands.
Sasaki:
They are described as Chinese government vessels, but they operate under the umbrella of the People’s Liberation Army.
Their entry into the contiguous zone is itself part of military activity.
It is a perfect example of repaying kindness with hostility.
Iwata:
Even while demanding that Xi Jinping be invited to Japan as a state guest, China repeatedly engaged in provocations around the Senkaku Islands.
Sasaki:
Japan has also suffered considerable damage from the spread of swine fever.
One almost wants China to repay the 3.6 trillion yen that Japan invested through official development assistance.
I believe that the novel coronavirus crisis will become a major opportunity for many Japanese people to recognise the depth of “China risk.”
Iwata:
It can also be said that the United States continued to be deceived by China.
One major reason America continued to trust China was the illusion that, once China achieved economic growth, it would grant greater political freedom and become an ordinary nation.
Under this optimistic assumption, China’s increasing assertiveness was overlooked.
We now know that this was merely wishful thinking.
From an American perspective, freedom, equality and democracy are regarded as the highest political ideals, and Americans tend to believe that the entire world will ultimately move in that direction.
Their greatest perceived success story was Japan.
They imagined that Japan had once been a totalitarian country and had been transformed through American power.
Sasaki:
And they thought that the same formula could be applied to China.
Iwata:
That was the great miscalculation.
Japan had already gone through the Meiji Restoration and the era of Taisho Democracy.
It had a parliament as part of its political system and possessed freedom of speech.
Japan did not become a democratic country solely through the benefits bestowed by the United States.
Nevertheless, Americans regarded Japan as their great success story and repeatedly attempted similar approaches in Iraq and Libya.
Sasaki:
They genuinely believed that democracy could simply be created even in societies traditionally governed by tribal structures.
Iwata:
Recently, however, I think the direction of American opinion has changed.
Looking at both the Republican and Democratic parties, we can see increasingly severe assessments of China.
The growing awareness of China’s brutality toward Tibetans and Uyghurs may also have played an important part.
[End of quotation]
To be continued.