From: chuakh@leland.Stanford.EDU (Khenghwa Chua)
Subject: Re: China/Chua, KhengHwa/Re: An open letter to Emperor Akihito of Japan
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 18:42:50 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.233849.19256@leland.Stanford.EDU> underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes:

>
>Now, with regard to the military threat, China, not Japan, has nuclear
>weapons.  China, not Japan, is proliferating nuclear weapons technology
>to 3rd world nations.

Somehow, I don't recall comparing the relative military might of Japan
and China in my original posting.  Besides, people aren't so much
worried about Japan's military might in an absolute sense, but the fact
that she is building up her military might.  Germany was numerically
inferior to France in almost every category in WWII.

>
>Japan, not China, has been a democracy for the last 45 years.
>Sure, Japan probably poses a greater threat than the USA, militarily,
>simply because of how Japan views "why war is wrong".  To the Japanese,
>war is wrong because Japanese lives are lost.  Think about what
>the means.  In America, we think that war is wrong because _human_ lives
>are lost.

I too did not mention anything about the governments in both countries

>
>Let's do a line by line comparison to too see just how ridiculous
>Mr. KhengHwa's reasoning is.
>
>         KhengHwa's "worries"
>         about Japan                       China _today_
>
>  1.    distorts history             Maoist indoctrination for all children
>                                     teaches kids that Taiwan must
>                                        be destroyed if it goes independent
>                                     capitalism is rotten unless
>                                        Deng says so
>                                     distorts all history
>                                     ...
>
>  2.  advanced military              has A-bomb
>       tech. in Japan                has H-bomb
>                                     has neutron-bomb because
>                                        Chinese-American leaked military
>                                        secrets from high energy lab in CA
>                                        to the "mother land"
>                                     continues to solicit spies among
>                                        Chinese-Americans
>                                     ...
>
>  3.  Japan participates             has the largest army in the world
>     in RimPac92 military            had military skirmishes with Vietnam
>     exercises with USA &            supported military insurgencies in Cambodia
>     S. Korea after gut-wrenching    has seized Tibet
>     debate in Diet                  has threatened military and nuclear war
>                                        if Taiwan declares independence
>                                     ...
>

I have to take you to task for mis-quoting me.  I did mention distorting
history but nowhere in my post did I even mention  Japan's advanced military
technology in those words.  Neither did I mention Japan's participation
in RimPac92, or the words South Korea!  I'm pretty sure you are flaming
the worng person.



>I admit it.  Japan is guilty of distort it's history books.  But
>man!  Japan is not the major military threat in Asia.  China is and
>has been for a long time a major military threat.
>
>Comparing Japan and China is like comparing a nation that is imperfect
>to Nazi Germany.
>
>Asian-Americans (AA) should support RimPac92 in its efforts to
>deter agression, especially Chinese agression, in Asia.  AA
>should support the Republic of Taiwan's right to self-determination.
>AA should support Japan's claim to the Senkaku islands.  AA
>should not support giving any more territory to a nation like
>China.  Come on.  Would AA supporting giving territory to Nazi
>Germany?  China already has Tibet and Taiwan.

Well, firstly, I'm not an Asian American; I'm just Asian, and as such,
speak from an Asian perspective.  I don't support China any more than I
support Japan or any other nation.  What I was gripping about was
Japan's, or some extremists', refusal to ackowledge her role in WWII.  I
believe this was the main issue that first cropped up in that letter.
All this talk about China's oppressive government was never the main
issue until people started to compare numbers killed like it was the
latest baseball stats.

>>An apology will serve to smooth over some of the resentment in the
>>region.  Japan should also present the facts of what happened in WWII,
>>and how their campaign of freeing Asia from the colonialists was based
>>purely on aspirations of empire-building.  There doesn't need to be a
>>scapegoat for the facts to be presented.
>
>I'm still waiting for the Chinese to apologize for the 100 million
>people that they killed.  Where are the Chinese tears for the 
>Tibetan victims and Taiwanese victims?
>
Again, I am speaking from an Asian perspective, not an Asian American or
a Chinese one.  When I spoke of an apology, it was to smooth over the
resentment held against the Japanese occupation of Asia in WWII,
something that hit close to home.  
>
>>As for anti-Japanese resentment in Asia, I think it is still very strong
>>even among those in their 50s, who were mere toddlers when the war broke
>>out.  I know many of my relatives use derogatory terms to describe
>>Japan, and these feelings won't die easily.
>
>Yeah.  Chinese "hard" feelings and bigotry tend to last a long time.
>Day by day, I'm beginning to understand why some Orientals, including Japanese,
>have such dim views of the Chinese.

Once again, I am not speaking as a person from Mainland China.  Hell, I
haven't even seen the place and don't owe it any sort of allegiance.
When I spoke of anti-Japanese resentment in Asia, I was speaking of the
older generation of Malays, Chinese, Indonesians, Pilipinos etc.  

I don't support everything that China does, such as the crackdown in
Tiananmen, but my opinions on China were never the issue.  The issue was
Japan's acknowledgement of her role in WWII.

I think alot of your confusion is due to the fact that for some reason,
these last postings have been posted on 3 different newsgroups,
including soc.culture.asianamerican.  I don't know who started posting
to all 3 groups but hopefully it won't happen again.  The only reason
why I'm posting to all 3 is because I have been misquoted and would like
to clarify my stand.  Please either email me directly or just post you
response to soc.culture.asean

>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Seikatsu no imi wa nan desu ka.            \|  |`      | Don't buy from Toyota;
>Shitte itara oshiete kuremasen ka.          | -+-      | especially, don't buy
>                                           /| / \      | from Capitol Toyota in
>Copyright 1992.                                        | San Jose, California.
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Chua, KhengHwa		
PO Box 4489,
Stanford CA 94309
USA
Tel : (415) 497-0755
Blk 14, Marine Terrace,
#16-180, Singapore (1544)
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