Casting an eye on the superpower of the 21st century through the Beijing Games
By Koji IGARASHI
Deputy Managing Editor The Asahi Shimbun,Tokyo
First of all, we would like to offer our congratulations that Beijing will be hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, an event where top athletes from across the globe gather and compete in, so-called, a celebration of peace. We also express our deep respect that the whole country is dedicated to support the capital city’s effort as it prepares to welcome the world.
Two years ago, back in July 2005, The Asahi Shimbun came to a certain decision regarding the coverage of the Beijing Games. We felt the Beijing Games held as much significance as an Olympics held here in Japan; and it was decided to give full coverage of the event, devoting as many reporters and as much newspaper space as if the Games were being held here in Japan. Our efforts would not only concentrate on August 2008 when the Games take place, but we wanted to give as much coverage as possible during the preparation stages, too. As soon as the decision was made, a special in-house project team was set up, and preparations covering logistics and other areas began.
Meanwhile, our company began extending support to related events to foster the Olympics spirit, such as the table tennis goodwill games for Japanese and Chinese elementary school students that was held in Beijing earlier this month. We launched a special reporting team tasked with covering special feature articles on China , early this year.
Why did The Asahi Shimbun come to this decision? One of the reasons is that our newspaper upholds a policy to give strong focus on international news coverage, especially on reports from Asia. In particular, we give special consideration to China as the center of our Asia coverage, assigning ten resident correspondents to the region. Besides these regular correspondents, numerous reporters are dispatched to China on various occasions. They dispatch detailed reports covering not only politics and the economy, but also a wide array of themes touching on education, culture, the environment, sports and Japan-China exchanges. Thus, we felt that the upcoming Beijing Games would provide a perfect opportunity for us to practice our policy.
There is actually another reason behind our decision, and this may actually be the more decisive one. We wanted to know how a dazzling event like the Olympic Games would change China herself, and what course the country will take from thereon. We felt that the new path would deeply affect Japan’s future, probably enough to define Japan’s direction. China remains a gigantic, powerful neighbor to Japan that has rendered a profound influence throughout our history. And now, China is about to emerge as the superpower of the 21st century. We need not point out that the Olympics would prove a powerful springboard to launch the country into the international spotlight as its leading player.
Let me take this opportunity to try and sum up the relationship between China and Japan, going back into history, using my own words. The relationship between the two countries, in its original form probably was something like “the Chinese Empire and Chinese culture, vast and rich” and “an island country that existed in (China’s) fringe; a country that maintained its independence while studying the cultures of the outside world including China.” While we saw the rise and fall of various nations and dynasties in China play out over the course of a few thousand years, Japan maintained a varying sense of distance, depending on the times. Yet Japan remained consistent in its stance—to keep on learning from the Chinese civilization. And no doubt that became the backbone of Japanese culture.
Considering our long historical relationship, when I reflect upon the current relationship between China and Japan, what comes to my mind as a crucial historical marker is the Opium War. Japan was shocked to see how China was forced to endure the agonizing consequences of an unreasonable war. Thus, Japan moved to revise its long-standing “sakoku” (closed policy) applied by the Edo Shoguate, and chose “kaikoku” (opening of the country). This first step led to the rapid changes of the Meiji Restoration. Japan continued towards a Western-style modernization under the policy of increasing wealth and military power; and that path led to imperialism.
The story paints a picture of a fringe island nation that learned its lesson from the hardships suffered by a central major power, making a quick turnaround—whether that was the right decision or not—and choosing the path to internationalization.
To digress a little from the subject, let me introduce a little about our new project The Asahi Shimbun embarked upon this spring. It is a feature series called “Impact of History/150 Years in East Asia.” It is an attempt to assess the ten decisive historic events that contributed to creating the current Asia, and recapture an overall East Asian regional history that is relative to China,
the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The series will continue for a year, appearing in the newspaper two days every month, covering a total of four pages.
What sparked the idea to launch the feature series was our feeling that: “The Japanese youths do not have sufficient knowledge regarding modern history. And that could be one of the contributing factors leading to the strange emergence of reactionary stance we see now.” We endeavor to seek what views are shared among countries such as China, the Koreas and Japan; and define how our understandings differ on which points. Based on the findings, we will attempt to reconstruct a historical image that reflects how the countries interrelate to each other.
The first installation of the series covered the “Opium War and Meiji Restoration.” What we tried to depict here was the wave of globalization that swept through East Asia during the mid 19th century. We all know how China, the Koreas and Japan responded to the wave, respectively. It may be too blunt a way to put it, but how the countries responded decided East Asia’s fate and its ensuing course for over a century.
The reason why I brought up an incident that took place over 160 years ago, is precisely because our world that we inhabit now, a year before the Beijing Olympics, is again awash with the rough waves of globalization. Furthermore, the waves of globalization that cover our present world are incomparably greater in both scale and power of impact, than the wave that arrived in the mid 19th century which was basically a wave of “westernization.”
We now see a small incident that takes place in the Shanghai stock exchange; which gets amplified, ultimately growing into a raging wave coursing throughout the globe. Toxic substances that found its way into food stuff and chemicals in China create havoc in the American continent. If a Chinese laborer, not feeling well, happens to assemble some parts in a haphazard way that could end up causing a major defect in a world top brand computer.
We live in a world that is thus tightly bound. And that is exactly why we are watching the present course of events with keen interest. How will China, as a major power, use the spring board called the Olympic Games, and make its next leap forward—in which direction? And how will China play its part as the central nation in East Asia?
As for Japan, we are a country that relies heavily on imports from various countries around the globe for food and energy etc. It is no exaggeration to say that Japan’s economy is built on the tight relationship with China. Furthermore , we are geographically close; if environmental destruction
continues in China, our country will be directly affected by the yellow sand flying in from the continent.
Now that the Olympic Games in Beijing is looming only a year ahead, the Japanese media is busy covering the massive preparations that is taking place and looking at the sports angle. Yet, at the same time, for these reasons, the Japanese media is naturally concerned in and interested in a variety range of issues in China ; the widening gap between the rich and poor, air pollution in Beijing, energy consumption and so on.
Globalization opened a new page where all people around the world live out their lives directly linked to each other—or at least live with the strong conviction of connectedness. Will China be able to narrow and overcome the gap between the rich and poor and maintain its spurt of economic growth? The answer does not only affect the people in China, but is actually closely linked to the quality of life for people all over the world. To be able to contemplate matters with a global perspective, and to be able to relate to and empathize with issues despite differences of nationality or race.
Such “cooperation within the international community” will become all the more necessary, in the times of globalization.
For us who work in the field of media , what can we do to enhance cooperation within the international community? We believe our role is to relay fair, unbiased, and correct information to all people as swiftly as possible, offering the basis for judgement. So I believe it is important for us to keep an uncommitted objective eye on facts and continue our reporting from diversified viewpoints. And that will lead to our mutual understanding . From this stand point, we welcome the lifting of media restrictions that was carried out by the Chinese government earlier this year.
I believe that the very fact that Beijing stood and was chosen to host the 2008 Games, and that China is dedicating its efforts to making it a success proves the direction it is heading—cooperation within the international community. Though the Olympic Games are often referred to festivities dedicated to peace, in reality, not all Games in the past were “peaceful.” There were times when the Games were tainted with strong political messages. Yet it is customary to call the games “a celebration of peace”. That, in itself seems to be a strong indication of the people’s commitment to create a place that is not constrained by politics or ideologies, where the whole world can gather in harmony through participation in sports.
In closing, we wish every success for the city of Beijing and China in creating “a celebration of peace”.
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