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> It always makes me wonder why. This doesn't make me wonder at all. The US and China were the two biggest allies in World War 2, became economically unified

> It always makes me wonder why. This doesn't make me wonder at all. The US and China were the two biggest allies in World War 2, became economically unified during the cold war to defeat the Soviet Union (remember the Soviet Union?), and now are the two biggest economic powers in the world. Don't look at official GDP figures, they're meaningless. Look at influence, manufacturing/logistical and financial power centers, and purchasing power parity. After all, what is China but a United Provinces of Asia? You think 1.3B people are naturally part of the same country/culture/creed/flag? No fucking way, to think otherwise is racist ignorance. Japan is quickly being usurped by Korea as well. Once the re-unification of Korea happens and there is a large source of inexpensive labor from the North for the developed economy in the South to employ, Japan will start its relative decline. They've already started to use Chinese manufacturing to remain competitive and leverage what's left of their engineering/design head-start given to them by the Marshall plan and previous Imperialist mindset. The big picture, folks. It's always worth looking at.

eru 17y ago
> Once the re-unification of Korea happens and there is a large source of inexpensive labor from the North for the developed economy in the South to employ, Japan will start its relative decline. The historic example of German re-unification does point in another direction..
Caligula 17y ago
I have to disagree with some of what you said. It was the USSR and the US who were the biggest allies in WW2. China was a non factor. And after WW2, the US opposed Mao by supporting the losing side. The USSR supported Mao's revolution. Trade began between China and the US in the 70's but it was not part of a plan to defeat the soviet union. It only really picked up at the end of the cold war. I don't think Japan is being usurped. If and when the re-unification happens, it will be chaos. South Korea just hopes it does not bankrupt them. Having a new source of inexpensive labor will not help Korea surpass Japan. China is close by and there is still plenty of inexpensive labor to be had there. Also, its not like just Japan uses Chinese manufacturing. The whole world does including the US. Japans engineering head-start was not given to them by the Marshall plan(which was mostly directed at europe). They earned it starting in the 50's.
- chiffonade 17y ago
  Were there American airbases in Russia, or China?
  - philwelch 17y ago
    There were American bombs being dropped on Germany, but that doesn't mean we have an animosity against Germany today. We were allied with the nationalist Chinese—the ones that lost the civil war and ended up ruling Taiwan. And at any rate, America's most major, most trusted ally in WWII and since has been Great Britain.

eru 17y ago

> Once the re-unification of Korea happens and there is a large source of inexpensive labor from the North for the developed economy in the South to employ, Japan will start its relative decline. The historic example of German re-unification does point in another direction..

Caligula 17y ago

I have to disagree with some of what you said. It was the USSR and the US who were the biggest allies in WW2. China was a non factor. And after WW2, the US opposed Mao by supporting the losing side. The USSR supported Mao's revolution. Trade began between China and the US in the 70's but it was not part of a plan to defeat the soviet union. It only really picked up at the end of the cold war. I don't think Japan is being usurped. If and when the re-unification happens, it will be chaos. South Korea just hopes it does not bankrupt them. Having a new source of inexpensive labor will not help Korea surpass Japan. China is close by and there is still plenty of inexpensive labor to be had there. Also, its not like just Japan uses Chinese manufacturing. The whole world does including the US. Japans engineering head-start was not given to them by the Marshall plan(which was mostly directed at europe). They earned it starting in the 50's.

chiffonade 17y ago
Were there American airbases in Russia, or China?
- philwelch 17y ago
  There were American bombs being dropped on Germany, but that doesn't mean we have an animosity against Germany today. We were allied with the nationalist Chinese—the ones that lost the civil war and ended up ruling Taiwan. And at any rate, America's most major, most trusted ally in WWII and since has been Great Britain.