Editorials
Monday, April 30, 2001
The issue: China has protested scheduled stopovers in the United States by President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan. The new prime minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, has suggested that Japan revise the famed "no-war" clause of its constitution. Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada is in jail awaiting trial for corruption. A tiff over Taiwan,
red herring in Japan
and the rap on ErapTaiwan leader's impending U.S. visit angers China
The Bush administration has given President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan permission to stop in New York in late May on his way to visit Latin America and to stop again in Houston on his way back. The Chinese government, which is relentless in seeking to isolate the island over which it claims sovereignty, has protested vehemently.The United States should ignore the Chinese objection. Who Americans invite to the United States or permit to travel through the country is our business, not China's. Put in its simplest terms, you don't tell me who I can invite to my house, and I won't try to tell you who you can invite to yours.
What the Chinese appear to have a hard time understanding is that their constant drumbeat of petulant complaints has begun to erode whatever goodwill that many Americans might have felt for China. Coming after the American heartburn over the propaganda and lies emanating from Beijing after the recent collision between an American intelligence plane and a Chinese fighter, and China's gradually sinking reputation becomes easy to grasp.
Beijing should also understand that it is building resentment toward its request to host the Olympic Games in 2008, a decision on which is to be made in July. The proverbial Kansas City milkman may not be interested in the intricate nuances of international diplomacy but he surely pays attention to the Olympics. Attempts to browbeat the United States may generate enough political pressure on the U.S. delegates to the Olympic committee that they will be unable to vote to approve Beijing's bid.
Japan isn't planning a return to militaristic past
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told the press in Tokyo the other day that Japan should modify the "no-war" clause in its Constitution to legitimize the nation's armed forces. "Saying the Self-Defense Forces aren't an army is just a lie," he said. "In the very worst case, if Japan is attacked, not being fully equipped and trained is politically irresponsible."China, North Korea and perhaps other nations that felt the heel of the Japanese military boot in the 1930s and 1940s are reported to have uneasy reactions to statements like that. They should relax as there are few indications anywhere in Japan of a return to the ultra-nationalistic, militaristic days of yore.
Beijing and Pyongyang should also cease using the specter of Japanese militarism for their current political purposes of beating concessions out of Japan. They may have real political and economic grievances with Tokyo but they should be settled on the current merits, not with criticisms based on events of more than a half-century ago.
The New York Times, in reporting Koizumi's remarks, asserted that Japan has one of the world's biggest military budgets, which is misleading. Japan spends about $50 billion a year for defense, which is one-sixth that of the U.S. military budget. At first glance, it seems like a respectable sum but under scrutiny, it fades.
Japan spends more than 40 percent of its budget on personnel and another 10 percent to support U.S. forces in Japan. Thus, the Japanese have spent half of their military budget before they have bought the first bullet, tank, or airplane. In addition, they get few economies of scale in arms production because they procure weapons in small lots. In some cases their costs are nearly twice those in the United States.
In sum, in military power, it's not what you spend but what you buy, and the Japanese don't get much for their defense yen.
Jailed Estrada awaits cue to appear in court
Events in Manila should give no one cause for joy. President "Erap" Estrada, the onetime movie idol who was elected in 1998 after a vigorously populist campaign, has been shown to have feet of clay. He sits in jail awaiting trial for allegedly plundering the national treasury.Many Filipinos and friends of the Philippines questioned the "People Power" that drove Estrada from office in January, just as it did the late President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. They worried that the mobs rallying in the streets of Manila, encouraged by leaders of the influential Roman Catholic Church and Estrada's political opponents, had trampled on democracy as they sought to turn Estrada out for allegations ranging from accepting bribes to incompetence.
Marcos, with the connivance of the Reagan administration, managed to flee to Hawaii where he died in exile in 1989. Estrada has not been so lucky. Even so, giving him a fair trial would help to restore a sense of democracy in the Philippines. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who succeeded Estrada from the vice-presidency, would serve her country well if she insisted on it.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, President
John Flanagan, publisher and editor in chief 529-4748; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.com The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (USPS 249460) is published daily by
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