Focusing on economist Kawai Eijirō, who resisted both Marxist and fascist totalitarianism in prewar Japan, this essay examines Hiroshi Yuasa’s column and its implications for contemporary China and the global order. A reflection on intellectual independence, liberal values, and the responsibility of journalists in defending freedom.

2019-01-16
When Marxism, a form of left-wing totalitarianism, swept through intellectual circles in early Shōwa Japan, he pursued its dangers relentlessly and never wavered even when denounced by the left as a “government scholar.”

The following is an article published today in Sankei Shimbun’s serialized column “World Analysis” by Hiroshi Yuasa, titled “A Rebuttal to the Global Times.”
Yuasa Hiroshi is also a genuine journalist active in today’s world.
He stands in stark contrast to those who, manipulated by the Asahi Shimbun, China, and the Korean Peninsula, gather in the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan under the name of journalists.
Perhaps the phrase “totalitarianism” irritated them deeply.
The Global Times, an affiliate of the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily, attacked my book The Man Who Fought Totalitarianism: Kawai Eijirō (Sankei Publishing), calling it “a right-wing book.”
It is customary for the Communist Party to label critics it dislikes as right-wing, and if that means “a critic of totalitarianism,” then the label is accurate.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe posted on Facebook that he would spend the New Year holidays reading, and one of the three books shown in the photograph was mine.
On the table were Naoki Hyakuta’s Nihon Koku-ki, Ryosuke Kakine’s The Principles of Nobunaga, and The Man Who Fought Totalitarianism.
The Global Times singled out the books by Hyakuta and myself for attack.
It introduced my work as “a narrative about a liberal economist used to criticize Japan’s leftist groups.”
It then added that “the author is a veteran reporter of right-wing media,” suggesting that the criticism may be directed at my usual stance.
People grow angry not at logic but at words, and a propaganda-oriented Communist Party grows even angrier.
However, by distorting the book as merely a critique of leftist groups, the Global Times avoided its true content.
Here, by outlining Kawai’s character, one may understand why the paper targets me.
Kawai was the only intellectual who lived his life with a spirit of freedom amid the conditions of prewar Japan.
When Marxism swept through intellectual circles in early Shōwa Japan, he pursued its dangers and never faltered even when denounced by the left as a government scholar.
Because Marxism obstructed individual freedom and freedom of speech, it could never be accepted from a liberal standpoint.
When fascism, a right-wing totalitarianism, later rose, he resisted the arbitrary military authorities at the risk of his life.
When the February 26 Incident occurred, while Marxists and the media remained silent, Kawai alone fiercely criticized it in the Imperial University Newspaper.
Soon after, four of his works, including Critique of Fascism, were banned, and he was expelled from Tokyo Imperial University.
Convicted as a dangerous thinker, he fell ill and died before the end of the war.
His independent spirit connects directly to the defense of freedom—democracy and the rule of law—that shaped the postwar world.
For that reason, the Xi Jinping administration, which challenges the current international order, likely does not want Abe to read this book.
President Xi himself declared at the 40th anniversary ceremony of Reform and Opening last December that China would uphold the guiding position of Marxism.
His repeated calls to pursue socialism with Chinese characteristics explain why my book is so detested.
The Global Times further accused me of repeatedly urging Japan and the United States to cooperate against China and of promoting the “China threat theory.”
The article even featured a photograph of my latest book, The World Dominated by China – A Chronological Projection toward Pax Sinica.
In that book, I present various forecasts and evidence suggesting that China will eventually surpass the United States in GDP and military power.
Using the collapse of the Soviet Union as an example, I ask whether totalitarianism awaits glory or downfall, noting that the seeds of decline lie within prosperity itself.
I also propose how democratic nations such as Japan, the United States, Australia, India, and others in Asia should respond to the ambitions of totalitarian states.
This likely explains why I am labeled a stubborn right-wing figure.
As the author, I cannot help but feel delighted.
(Tokyo Correspondent)
I fully agree… a hearty laugh.