Economically, China and Japan are one
This week, the world watched TV footage of Chinese protesters throwing stones at the Japanese embassy in Beijing and attacking other Japanese targets in the country. It was not good publicity for China, and I hope - and expect - that protests planned this weekend here in Hong Kong will be peaceful.
If anyone did throw a stone at a Japanese business in Hong Kong, they would not only be breaking the law, but probably displaying a great deal of ignorance. The vast majority of sushi restaurants, sweet stores and other Japanese-style businesses here are, of course, owned by Hong Kong people.
The demonstrators in Beijing had a banner that read: '[It is] shameful to sell Japanese goods, [it is] shameful to buy Japanese goods.' But they are overlooking the impact of globalisation. You can be pretty sure that the majority of Japanese items on sale in mainland shops (and here) are actually made in China, by Chinese workers, often using Chinese-made components. Only the brand is Japanese. A boycott of Japanese goods in China would, therefore, hurt Chinese workers. And it would hurt consumers, too. People buy Japanese products because they consider them good value for money or they enjoy the Japanese style and image.
As for the use of violence, there can be no excuse. To damage property or hurt innocent people is simply wrong. And everyone loses. For every window that was broken and every exchange student who was threatened in the mainland last week, hundreds of Japanese tourists and businesspeople have probably cancelled trips to China.
Although it is impossible to defend the protesters' methods, I feel that Japan is not totally innocent in all this. For those of us who would like to see closer ties between Asian countries, Japan's behaviour can be frustrating. Its leaders regularly attend a shrine to the war dead, in which war criminals are honoured. Japanese school books never seem to spell out what those war criminals did. To Chinese and other Asians, this is a deliberate refusal to face the past, and it is offensive. Look at the contrast with Germany, which now enjoys very close and positive relations with its European neighbours.
The background to this latest hostility is Japan's wish to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. At the moment, China is the only Asian country with a permanent seat. Japan, like Germany, is excluded for historical reasons. Their exclusion is a constant reminder of the war that ended 60 years ago this year and the atrocities they committed. To many Chinese, Koreans and other Asians, Japan will not deserve a permanent seat as long as it fails to accept its history, a point that Premier Wen Jiabao made just a few days ago.
Is all this important to us in Hong Kong? I believe it is, and for very down-to-earth reasons that bring us back to the issue of globalisation. China and Japan are each other's first- or second-largest trade partners. Japan has massive investments in China. We are beginning to see a trend for mainland companies to invest in Japan by buying firms there. This is just starting, but it could mark a major step forward in Asian economic integration. At the same time, Japan has significant economic ties with Southeast Asia, and China is also developing links in the region.
If relations are positive, investment and trade flows all around Asia are likely to continue growing in the long term, and Hong Kong is positioned to play a major role in that process. If Asia's two greatest powers cannot or will not get along, we, and Asia generally, will be poorer as a result.
Bernard Chan is a member of the Executive Council and a legislator representing the insurance functional constituency
