tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711781369107924586.post3585196998660201608..comments2024-02-28T18:31:09.088-08:00Comments on George the Cyclist: Suzhou, ChinaJeff Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03790219160140511776noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2711781369107924586.post-85869460211741285292009-11-11T22:55:50.282-08:002009-11-11T22:55:50.282-08:00People here in Japan are expecting relations with ...People here in Japan are expecting relations with China to get a whole lot warmer. The new Japanese government said it wanted an "equal" partnership with the USA and wanted to start an East Asia Common Market with China and others. For the Americans this means no more military help from Japan with the Afghanistan effort and past military agreements are up for grabs, so lots of downside for the USA. What Japan expects from China isn't so clear. China wants Japanese technology and knowhow, but they then want to sell it for cheaper than the Japanese can. The Chinese are gobbling up all the world's mineral resources through contracts with some (sometimes) very unsavory regimes. The Japanese are watching this all with some trepidation. Japanese society is getting older and some predict a long, slow economic decline. A more powerful China is inevitable. Maybe all the Japanese can hope for is that the Chinese will rein in that crazy regime in N. Korea. I think the Chinese know that is what S. Korea, Japan and the USA want, so that is why they never do anything serious to yank on the N. Korean's chain. One can only hope that Chinese economic development will give them more of a stake in maintaining peace in the region. It's beginning to appear the rivalry between China and India will dominate world events in the future, while the sun is slowly setting on the USA, Japan and Europe.Stuarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01304815781816862252noreply@blogger.com