Where have Japanese nationalism and pride gone?

The Japanese hatred for the Americans run very deep. It was not just the dropping of two atomic bombs and the carpet bombing of Tokyo and Japanese cities. It was not just the mass detention and imprisonment of Japanese in America during WW2. It was not even the dismantling of the Japanese industrial might that was powering Japan to become the number one economy in the world. It is not even the military occupation of Japan till today. 

Japan was on its way to conquer and rule over Asia in WW2. All the Asian and Southeast Asian countries were already under the control of Japan except for China. Japan also defeated Russia and was in the process of taking over the whole of China.

The Americans broke the Japanese dream of ruling Asia and the whole world and imprison Japan as a colonised state till today. The Japanese Empire became history. The Japanese Emperor was humiliated and almost became a prisoner of war. This is America's historical debt to Japan.

As a proud martial race with Imperial ambition to rule the world, it is a big disgrace and embarrassment for Japan to be still under military occupation and not a free and independent country to follow its national ambition. And with a Constitution imposed by the Americans to prevent Japan to have a normal armed forces like any country. Japan's huge military force can only be called a Self Defence Force, only for self defence and not for offensive, cannot engage in wars of conquest. Japan and South Korea are the last two American protectorate and semi colony in the world.

The Americans would now use the China as the threat, China as the common enemy to keep the Japanese in check. The Japanese just play along, hoping to use the Americans to fight China for them. Their ultimate aim is full independence as a proud nation state, not as an American colony in any guise.

The Americans know the Japanese well and would make sure that they would not lose their control over the Japanese. A mistake or negligence by the Americans is all the Japanese need to be free from American control. They will keep bowing and smiling to the Americans to keep them at ease as if the Japanese are totally won over, no more fighting spirit, no more samurai spirit, obedient and willingly be a subservient colony of the American Empire.

Another too good to be true situation. It is dangerous to think that the Japanese have lost their pride in themselves and their past military history of conquest. It is dangerous to think that the Japanese are contented with the present state of being, kowtowing to the Americans and be pushed and coerced by the Americans at the Americans' fancy. Trump is now demanding Japan to cough out US$500b to support the American economy. Trump is also demanding Japan to pay another US$1.4b a year for the American military presence in Japan, to control Japan in the name of defending Japan. This is American arrogance and Trump's stupidity thinking that the Japanese want to be protected by the Americans and want the American bases and soldiers to be in Japan.

The vigour and cries of Japanese nationalism and militancy have not been heard for decades. It would appear that the Japanese have lost their marbles and have accepted their fate to be under the American military occupation for good. Is this true, that the war cries of the militant Japanese are history and the new Japanese are polite and bowing and bowing businessmen? Why would they build a Self Defence Force that is second only to China, with aircraft carriers in disguise by buying vertical takeoff F35s take do not need the runway for takeoff horizontally? Why developed nuclear bomb capabilities without acknowledging that they are in possession of nuclear bombs?

Any American crony country is not to be trusted

The narrative about China immediately buying less Russian oil is nothing more than throwing spanners into the works in the hope that it will sour relations and split the alliance of the two countries. It is not going to work. We have seen attempts made in the past, hyping up differences between Moscow and Beijing as a sign of trouble between the two countries. No two countries can have no differences on issues and that goes for Russia and China as well.

China and Russia are going ahead with the gas pipeline, the Power of Siberia 2. It is a win-win project for China and Russia. But the risk of the project going through Mongolia is not to be underestimated. Mongolia is playing musical chairs with China, Russia and USA, just like India. Russia and particularly China, must look at the risk involved in investing in projects in or passing through Mongolia and not get its fingers burnt, knowing that the USA is also having its influence over Mongolia over such moves.

Any country with good relations with USA is not to be trusted at face value and needs to be evaluated using very close scrutiny. Just look at the Netherlands. What it has done to China in the lithography machine sector under USA's prodding needs no further repeating.

And yet, the Netherlands had the audacity to seize Nexperia, a company owned and saved from collapse earlier by Wing tech of China and nursed back into profitability. It was a classic case of Dutch piracy, seizing the property of another country using fabricated evidence harping on security issues that have yet to emerge. Now, the irony is that what the Dutch Government thought it seized a gem turns out basically to be just a shell, a nameplate and some call it a mailbox, while China still holds the property ownership. The real asset value of Nexperia is still inside China, the factory making all the chips, which has now been stopped from being exported to Europe. European car manufacturers are facing an existential dilemma, and the situation is unraveling.

Volkswagen of Germany is trying to put on a brave front by claiming that it relies on supply chains inside Germany, forgetting that even its tier one supply chain providers have to rely on those chips to make products for their cars These supply chain vendors across the whole of Europe are the ones going to suffer the secondary collateral damage, not just in Germany alone, started off innocently and illegally by the seizure of a foreign owned company in the Netherlands.

The bigger damage that this has been done to Europe comes from the perception that if a Chinese company can just be seized using untenable and fallacious arguments, who else is next. Investors will be asking that question before putting their money into projects in Europe. A small misstep by the Dutch Government that is to be of gigantic economic consequences for Europe.

And the irony is that it is going to benefit China and countries across Asia, South-East Asia, Africa and South America, emphasizing to investors that their bets will be safer in the long run if they just avoid going to Europe.


Anonymous

Argentina bailout. What is the motive of Scott Bessant?

I just am beginning to understand why and what was the reason for Trump, actually it was Scott Bessant's idea to bail out Argentina, although he does not want to call that a bailout. USA is basically using US$ to buy Argentina's worthless Peso, a move that defies logic. But there is an agenda behind the move hatched by Scott Bessant. Scott Bessant may be a billionaire, but greed has no glass ceiling.
Scott Bessant is discreetly helping his old acquaintances, like George Soros and other hedge fund owners that have invested heavily in Argentina bonds that are slipping into the sewers. This move is supposed to stabilize the Argentina Peso as well, but the nitty gritty of the move is beyond my comprehension.

Scott Bessant is no humanitarian, having tried to cripple countries during his term as hedge fund manager with George Soros. George Soros, probably through Scott Bessant, lost his pants trying to upend the Hong Kong economy in 1998, by attacking Hong Kong's financial system. Many also could not fathom how Scott Bessant could lose a couple of billions managing his own hedge fund. The man is no Warren Buffet for sure.

You have to believe that Scott Bessant is not helping to save Argentina but trying to save other interest groups. The money was to be drawn from the USA Exchange Equalization Fund, of which Scott Bessant has full authority, Argentina is a basket case and giving bailouts is more like throwing good money after bad.

At this juncture after the bailout, and mid-term election, which the bailout is supposed to do, the Argentina Peso and bond market are in jubilant mood, but the underlying economic condition is still mired in quicksand. Argentina had been given bailouts galore by the IMF in the past but still failed to extricate itself from its economic woes. This will again be just temporary relief.

Argentina owes the most money to the IMF and has been called a 'serial defaulter' over its loans many times, with bailouts galore. Argentina could be called a classic case of a country falling into a debt trap. Therefore, the interest of the IMF also figured in the current US$40 billion bailout, otherwise the IMF will have to suffer massive losses if Argentina collapse totally. Remember that Argentina is a hardcore supporter of dollarization, not de-dollarization, so it figures.


Anonymous

China will not buy soya beans to please Trump and sell out Brazil and Argentina

Exactly what I am thinking. China can agree, but to what extent afterwards is subject to how much China wants to give or to buy. China still holds all the cards or is making all the cards. This has already been the case with earlier negotiations over trade volumes, which did not move the needle over the trade imbalance. Which is why the USA now realizes that decoupling with China is problematic, while the Chinese do not feel the same way now.

Take the buying of soya beans that Trump is trying to force his hand against China. China has already inked long term soya bean deals with Brazil and Argentina and is not going to backtrack on those deals just to please Trump. It is not going to happen. Just token moves to buy some soya beans may result, but China will not sabotage Brazil or Argentina farmers by pulling the plug. Brazil is a BRICS backer, a de-dollarization partner and support by China for Brazil is going to be a long-term move. Brazil's President Lula even said that his loyalty will always be to BRICS.


Anonymous

Gaza War is not about Hamas but about genocide and chasing the Palestinians out of their homeland

The war was never about getting rid of Hamas. That was a good excuse. The war was about discreetly committing genocide, eradicating the Palestinians, seizing Gaza to benefit Israel and Trump's family.

The plan had been exposed by Steve Witkoff and the narrative being floated was for asking the Arabs to fund the rebuilding on the pretext of humanitarian reasons, but the Palestinians will not be going back to Gaza and that is for sure. That this was a plan floated two years ago, which just goes to show the real agenda of the USA and Israel.

After all, this just mirrors the genocide against the Native American Indians by the Anglo-Saxon Whites to seize their land. Now, what is the status of the Native American Indians? They never get back their land and have to live in concentration camps masquerading as reservations. They have to live just like the animals in reservations in Africa to protect them from humans, aka poachers.


Anonymous