Originally published on October 17, 2019.
Based on a dialogue between Furuta Hiroshi and Fujii Genki published in WiLL, this article examines the Hong Kong protests, the totalitarian nature of the Chinese Communist Party, the Tiananmen Square massacre, Taiwan, U.S. sanctions against China, 5G hegemony, and Made in China 2025, framing the conflict as a clash between modern democratic politics and the despotic rule of an “ancient brain.”

October 17, 2019.
Andy Chan said indignantly, “Is this not the twenty-first century? Is it acceptable for a country of democratic politics, with no fewer than seven million people, to be crushed by a totalitarian regime?” but China is not living in the twenty-first century.
The following is a continuation of the dialogue between Furuta Hiroshi and Fujii Genki published in this month’s issue of WiLL, under the title “Korea, Then and Now, Has an Ancient Brain; There Is No Way to Deal with an ‘Ancient Brain.’”
Economic Sanctions on Hong Kong.
Furuta.
How do you see the situation of the Hong Kong demonstrations?
Fujii.
The conservative political activity discussion conference for Japan-U.S. cooperation, “J-CPAC” — the Japanese Conservative Political Action Conference — was held in Tokyo on August 31 and September 1.
This is the Japanese version of CPAC, the conference organized by the American grassroots conservative organization, the American Conservative Union, or ACU.
The well-known activist who advocates Hong Kong independence, Andy Chan, was also scheduled to participate, but on the night of August 29, when he was about to board a plane from Hong Kong to Japan, he was detained by the police at the airport.
He was released after paying bail, and he sent a video message to the conference.
According to him, the Chinese Communist Party is the same as the Nazis, and the police forces are carrying out unlimited arrests and violence against the demonstrators.
Furuta.
They are doing the same thing as in the Tiananmen Square incident.
Fujii.
He also said, “Please do not sell equipment to the Hong Kong police.”
He also appealed for economic sanctions to be imposed on Hong Kong.
Unless that is done, there can be no change of direction.
That is how far they have been driven into a corner.
Even in South Korea, though they are few in number, there are pro-Japanese people and scholars with good sense.
Those people, too, say that Japan and the United States should impose strict economic sanctions on South Korea.
They say that unless that is done, the runaway actions of the Moon administration cannot be stopped.
Furuta.
It is a prescription for awakening them.
How will Taiwan move in relation to Hong Kong?
Fujii.
Taiwan is a de facto independent country, so it can extend a helping hand.
The United States can also sell weapons to Taiwan.
But it cannot supply weapons to Hong Kong’s democratization movement.
One thing that can be said is that, because of the impact of the demonstrations in Hong Kong, it is certain that the flow has shifted toward Tsai Ing-wen winning next year’s presidential election in Taiwan.
Furuta.
Hong Kong is a place where secret information concerning China’s IT sector comes in, so even China cannot easily crush it.
Fujii.
That is exactly right.
I think Hong Kong is a place of high utility value for the Chinese Communist Party.
Taking various circumstances into account, I do not think they will introduce the military.
Furuta.
I think so, too.
Fujii.
Instead, they will move the Hong Kong police and make them carry out actions that crush freedom.
They are spraying tear gas and beating people without restraint.
Furuta.
I wonder whether those police officers are Hong Kong people.
Fujii.
There is a possibility that they are composed of people who have newly flowed into Hong Kong from mainland China.
That is why they are pro-Chinese Communist Party.
Furuta.
There is also the case of bringing in prison inmates.
In South Korea, during the Chun Doo-hwan administration, in order to suppress political demonstrations, they used prisoners, not riot police, to throw stones.
I was there at the scene at that time, and I nearly got hit by a stone.
Fujii.
However, if the demonstrations intensify and the political system falls into a situation where it is shaken, the authorities will introduce the military without hesitation and carry out bloody repression.
That is the true nature of the Communist Party.
Furuta.
After all, even the Tiananmen Square incident is justified by the Chinese Communist Party.
Fujii.
The Chinese Communist Party claims that, because that incident occurred, the subsequent political stability was born.
From their view of history, it is a success story.
If they endured for two or three years, the people in the West would feel attracted by China’s economic power, and the economic sanctions would be lifted.
Furuta.
China, like South Korea, still has an “ancient brain” today. (laughs)
Fujii.
However, there are aspects in which the situation differs from the previous Tiananmen Square incident.
At that time, the Chinese economy was entering a period of high economic growth.
This time, it is economically in decline.
Moreover, a powerful anti-China administration has emerged in the United States, tariffs have been imposed, and China is experiencing negative growth.
If it does something like the Tiananmen Square incident, the Chinese economy may collapse.
Furuta.
But it is Xi Jinping.
Fujii.
Xi Jinping thinks that all he has to do is control both politics and the economy.
If it becomes a matter of internet regulation or the activation of strong power through the use of force, there is nothing to fear — that is the Communist Party.
It is the worst of all bad policies, but if Xi Jinping makes that decision, we may be able to hope that cracks will appear in the regime.
Furuta.
Xi Jinping lacks cultivation and is simple-minded, so he may really do it. (laughs)
Fujii.
If the police forces are mobilized for mass arrests, and if the demonstration movement begins to decline through harsher punishments, then they will eliminate the leaders one by one — this is probably the most realistic method.
Furuta.
They suddenly disappear, or are buried in darkness.
Fujii.
It is also the method at which the Communist Party is most skilled.
Pay Attention to Hong Kong.
Furuta.
Will the Trump administration continue to watch from the sidelines?
Fujii.
From the American point of view, the Hong Kong issue is a British matter.
The promise of “one country, two systems” was made by China not to the people of Hong Kong, but to Britain.
Therefore, no country other than Britain has the qualification to denounce the suppression of the demonstrations.
Furuta.
But, as we discussed earlier, Britain is leaning toward China, is it not?
Fujii.
Yes.
Moreover, its political center is paralyzed, so it is not in a situation where it can denounce China.
It is difficult for the United States to intervene as well.
What Hong Kong’s democrats are appealing for is, “At any rate, please pay attention to Hong Kong.”
If there is television coverage, it becomes difficult to carry out powerful suppression.
By the way, within today’s China, the suppression of the Hong Kong demonstrations is not the most brutal thing.
Furuta.
Tibet and the Uyghurs are experiencing things that are far more tragic.
Fujii.
However, we cannot see those tragic situations as videos or photographs.
Because neither cameras nor reporters can enter, the actual situation is unknown.
Furuta.
Information is still coming out of Hong Kong.
Fujii.
As long as the world’s attention is gathered there, it is a situation in which it is difficult to activate strong power.
In fact, I was somewhat surprised by these demonstrations.
To begin with, I had thought that Hong Kong people were interested only in making money and were politically indifferent.
But that was not so.
I am even moved by the fact that they possess the spirit to defend freedom and democracy.
However, I must say that the method of supporting Hong Kong is difficult.
Furuta.
The “ancient-brained” Chinese are trying to despotically rule the “modern-brained” Hong Kong people!
Fujii.
Andy Chan said indignantly, “Is this not the twenty-first century? Is it acceptable for a country of democratic politics, with no fewer than seven million people, to be crushed by a totalitarian regime?” but China is not living in the twenty-first century.
Furuta.
It is like being dragged down into the abyss of antiquity.
Fujii.
Exactly.
All they know is that, if a rebellion occurs, they should suppress it by force.
Furuta.
There were military forces lined up next to the Hong Kong police, were there not?
When I watched that footage, I was reminded of the terracotta warriors of Qin Shi Huang.
It seems we are standing at a crossroads: how to defend democracy from antiquity.
How will America’s economic sanctions affect China?
Fujii.
America’s policy is to completely exclude China from the high-tech supply chain.
Furuta.
Fukada Moe discusses those circumstances in The Truth of the 5G Revolution, published by WAC, and it was a truly interesting book.
She points out that, because it would be disastrous if China monopolized 5G, Trump is standing on the front line and fighting.
Fujii.
Exactly.
There is no problem in buying shoes and clothing from China.
However, when it comes to the research, development, and manufacturing of core technologies in IT and AI, America wants somehow to bring them back to the American mainland.
At the very least, it wants them to be produced among friendly countries.
Furuta.
If tariffs are imposed to that extent, even America’s major IT companies will not be able to do business. (laughs)
Fujii.
In fact, many companies have announced that they will pull their factories out of China.
GAFA — Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple — are stateless companies, so in their true feelings they dislike Trump.
It would have been good for them if they could produce cheaply in China, but they can no longer do that.
Apple, too, has decided to move part of its factories to Israel and the American mainland.
Furuta.
Trump has “foresight” in that respect.
Fujii.
If “Made in China 2025” had been realized, both America and Japan would have been finished.
Furuta.
Perhaps, in his mood of his usual big boasting, he gave it away.
He is truly dull-witted, is he not?
Fujii.
That is why Xi Jinping is “excellent.” (laughter)
If he had had the cunning of Deng Xiaoping, he would have proceeded steadily without saying anything, and if the result had appeared ten years later, it would have been terrifying.
Furuta.
Tao guang yang hui — the Chinese foreign and security policy of “hiding one’s capabilities and accumulating strength within.”
Fujii.
It is a strange thing about the Chinese, but once they gain confidence, they become strangely arrogant.
Furuta.
That is because China has failed in all of modern history.
There is not a single good point.
Because things have recently become a little better, they have become outrageously arrogant.
They have accumulated resentment and bitterness from all their history until now, and they are now spitting it out.
Fujii.
The Communist Party taught them that they have “resentment.”