What China can learn from Japan
Lex Zhao says Sino-Japanese animosities notwithstanding, the Chinese should look to their advanced neighbour to learn how to solve entrenched problems in governance and society
Years ago, I had the honour to be at the same dinner table as a famous Indian scholar. I candidly asked him the following question: India has so many excellent economists at Harvard, MIT, Chicago, Stanford, and Cambridge, just to name a few - so, why was the Indian economy in such a bad shape? His answer surprised me: because Britain had colonised India, India chose to learn from the Soviet Union for many years, even though many Indians knew that the British system might be much better.
Pioneers of the Chinese revolution, including Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, Zhou Enlai , Qiu Jin and Lu Xun , went to school in Japan before they succeeded in modernising China. In fact, countless terms in modern Chinese, including communism, science and democracy, first appeared in Japanese translations.
Despite the animosity and distrust between the two peoples over the Diaoyu Islands, I have to admit that we must still learn from Japan, even today. Japan has invaded and inflicted pain on China on several occasions, but a "victim syndrome" blinds many Chinese to the fact that Japan is far more advanced.
That Japan used to learn from China - it adopted Chinese culture more than a century ago - makes matters worse. Many ordinary Chinese are indignant that the student now appears to be beating the master at the game.
Here's why China must learn from Japan. One, Japan's per capita gross domestic product (in current dollar terms) is still nearly 10 times higher than China's, even after two lost decades in Japan and three booming decades in China. Two, worldwide, some of the most visible lights in skyscrapers at night are advertisements of Japanese multinationals, such as Sony, Toyota, Toshiba and Panasonic. Three, although more densely populated than China, Japan is arguably the cleanest, safest, most convenient-for-travel country on earth, especially for children and seniors.
There's more. Four, illiteracy has almost been eradicated - most young people enter colleges - and there is minimal inequality between rural and urban areas. Five, Japan is a modern giant, yet tradition is maintained gracefully. And, six, neighbouring countries and regions such as Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong succeeded in modernising after learning from Japan.
