A case of killing chickens to scare monkeys

The world's most dominant and profitable automaker's recall of over 8.5 million cars has spiraled out of control. At first, it seemed to be a normal recall of defective cars. But the crisis Toyota Motor Corp. faces has surpassed the purely "business" level to involve political and geopolitical dimensions.

Many observers suspect something other than safety concerns behind the harsh response of the United States to Toyota's recall. To former Kia Motors chairman Kim Sun-hong, the U.S. reaction to the Toyota problem is an act of "killing the chickens to scare the monkeys."

This Chinese proverb illustrates the cruel yet effective tactic of killing one to tame a hundred: As monkeys misbehave in the treetops, annoyed humans kill chickens in front of the monkeys. From fear, the monkeys get silent and tamed. Some even fall out of the trees.

In an interview with the online newspaper Whoim (www.whoim.kr), Kim said no man-made technology can be perfect. Cars are not an exception, and hence the constant recalls to rectify defects. In a sense, recalls in the car business are seen as an automaker's show of confidence and trustworthiness.

Toyota has recalled its cars numerous times, so why is the U.S. government taking issue with the Japanese automaker this time? The reason Kim suggested was that "Toyota has crossed the line that it should not have crossed." Toyota, he said, should not have driven the Big Three - General Motors, Ford and Chrysler - to the wall, and instead should have followed a strategy of coexistence.

"The message that Washington wants to send through the Toyota recall crisis is that other companies could also be put into such a quandary. The U.S. government wants its trading partners to heed the warning," Kim said.

Many observers in Japan seem to echo Kim's view. They suspect that domestic political dynamics of the United States are at work in the Toyota bashing.

"For the Obama administration, which is worrying about its falling support rates, the best way of letting off steam about the jobless situation is to target Toyota, which has overtaken the Big Three," Kazutaka Oshima, president of Rakuten Investment Management, was quoted as saying in a Feb. 9 Reuters story from Tokyo.

Tough talk by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood fueled speculation that the U.S. government is using Toyota as a scapegoat. LaHood advised anyone who owns a faulty Toyota vehicle to "stop driving it and take it to the dealership because they believe they have the fix for it." He added that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "will continue to hold Toyota's feet to the fire to make sure they are going to do everything they said they were going to do to make the vehicles safe."

Kim said the U.S. government will not let the Toyota crisis spiral out of control because Washington's intention is not to kill off Toyota but to warn "strong monkeys" from other parts of the world.

To some observers, the Toyota situation has deeper political and geopolitical implications. Some Japanese watchers worry that the Toyota incident could further strain Japan-U.S. ties that are already frayed by the escalating dispute over a U.S. airbase on Okinawa.

Cha Kil-jin, head of Hooam Future Institute, describes the Toyota bashing as Washington's attempt to tame Japan under Prime Minister Hatoyama.

In the first place, Cha says the Toyota predicament is the result of "having eaten too much salt-marinated salmon roe." He was referring to the method used to hunt polar bears. As hunters are unable to beat a polar bear in strength, they feed the bears salt-drenched salmon eggs as bate until bears become so bloated from drinking too much water that they cannot move. It is then that the hunter moves in.

What triggered the Toyota crisis was its rise to the No. 1 spot in the global auto industry by overtaking General Motors. "It hurt the United States' pride," Cha said.

But the Toyota crisis involves more than the No. 1 spot in the global car industry. "It reflects Washington's intention to tame the Hatoyama administration which seeks to change the power balance in East Asia," Cha says in a Whoim article.

Cracks began to appear in the staunch U.S.-Japan alliance since the Democratic Party of Japan took power, ending the 54-year-long rule of the Liberal Democratic Party. Conflicts began to surface when the Hatoyama administration sought to nullify the 2006 agreement to relocate the Futenma air base on Okinawa Island.

Throughout the post-war era, Japan had actively supported Washington's global strategies. But friction was anticipated with the DPJ's seizure of power because the party vowed to seek an independent voice. Following the DPJ's takeover, calls have been raised for a reorganization of the U.S. forces in Japan. Recently, secret agreements crafted in the 1960s to allow U.S. nuclear weapons in Japanese territory were exposed. These incidents were taken as signs of the Hatoyama administration's intention to pursue a more independent diplomacy with the United States.

According to Cha, Washington used the Toyota recall crisis to keep Japan in check. "Toyota became too high spirited and careless after rising to the global No. 1 spot," he said.

Cha said the Toyota fiasco offered Washington a chance to promote the revival of its staggering automakers and the national economy and push Japan back into line in relationship with the United States.

Then what are the main lessons for Korea and Korean companies? On one hand, Korean automakers, including Hyundai Motor, have experienced over 10 percent rise in sales as a result of the Toyota's recalls. However, Cha says Hyundai Motor should not be satisfied with the small, unexpected gains from Toyota's pain.

For Hyundai Motor, the Toyota debacle is not "a fire on the other side of the river that you can merely look on," Cha said, "because the misfortune that befalls others today can befall you in the future."

For Korea, Cha advises, it is time to broaden its horizons and look at the shifts in the Northeast Asian security landscape from a more practical perspective. "South Korea needs to contemplate the implications of the cracks in the Japan-U.S. alliance for regional security and the reunification of the two Koreas," he said.

LINK http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/dat...01002130027.asp

LINK http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/dat...01002130027.asp

i always thought there was something fishy going on with the toyota cars recall... after reading this article it makes perfect sense.

about the china bashing theres more china bashing comming from western nations compared to japan

and korea there just paranoid china might take over there land lol...

That's just great. We have a Japan with an inferiority complex and a paranoid Korea. Meanwhile, the Caucasians are united in their attempts to weaken China. We have a pair of psychologically-weak sisters in Northeast Asia. They can't seem to understand that there is a larger game underway. I suppose that China, on her own, will simply have to continue going eyeball-to-eyeball with the United States and Europe.

Will Caucasians maintain their stranglehold on technology, trade, finance, investment, and the highest living standards in the world? Or will China succeed in deregulating the entire world trading system and let all nations and peoples benefit? For example, after China established trade relationships with Africa, Australia, and Brazil, isn't it true that those economies boomed? Are not Africans, Australians, and Brazilians enjoying rising living standards from selling higher-priced commodities to the world market?

German, France, Italy, Spain and UK all fought thier wars when each one became powerful, nearly all European nations went to war after industrialization its natural, so did Asians, so whats the big deal

There is no reason why Koreans, Chinese and Japanese cant get together, let by gones remain by gones, Japanese got nuked twice by Americans but they still do business with USA

To an extent, you and "gnak" have summed up the Japanese and Korean viewpoint. The Japanese and Koreans do not seem to realize that they are geographically small countries and second-tier mid-size powers and economies. They refuse to face facts.

China consumes 3,640 terawatt-hours of electricity per year. Japan consumes a mere 1,000 terawatt-hours. South Korea consumes under 400 terawatt-hours. In their delusional minds, Japan and South Korea believe that they are "rival" states to China. Until Japanese and South Koreans accept reality, they will not rally behind China in support of Asian causes (i.e. unlike China, Japan and South Korea do not object and complain about U.S. invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan). Instead, the U.S. will continue to play a game of divide and conquer.

We will simply have to wait another ten to fifteen years for China's nominal economy to match the U.S. economy. At that time, the Asian voice will be heard more loudly and clearly (i.e. stop invading Asian countries and killing civilians).

Martian, Israel is a tiny country yet controls pretty much everything it wants, energy consumption has nothing to with international agendas

If you keep thinking one os more superior to another then this wont work, we are back to WWII, China, Korea and Japan are on the same boat no one has authority of another, that way they can all work together

I disagree. Israeli power is derived from American equipment, power, and support. Without the unconditional backing of America, Israel would struggle to keep the lights on in the country. Different studies have estimated that during the last forty years, Israel has received hundred of billions to over a trillion dollars of American economic and military aid. Without full U.S. support for forty years, Israel would be a third-world country.

The United States, Korea, and Japan do not "all work together." When the U.S. tells Japan that an U.S. base on Okinawa is non-negotiable, it is only a matter of time before the Japanese blink and accommodate the United States. The U.S. does not treat Japan or Korea as equals. Japan is no larger than the single state of California. Korea is roughly the size of Kentucky. Each state is entitled to merely two senate seats in a chamber of 100. It is not realistic for California or Kentucky to expect equal status to the continental United States.

Similarly, it is unrealistic to expect China to treat Japan or Korea as equals. Japan is merely the size of one Chinese province. Korea is probably smaller than all of China's 23 provinces.

When a country is a mid-size power, it should behave like one. Japan and Korea have no problems following U.S. leadership. They should show similar deference to Chinese leadership on Asian issues.

The United States, Korea, and Japan do not "all work together." When the U.S. tells Japan that an U.S. base on Okinawa is non-negotiable, it is only a matter of time before the Japanese blink and accommodate the United States. The U.S. does not treat Japan or Korea as equals. Japan is no larger than the single state of California. Korea is roughly the size of Kentucky. Each state is entitled to merely two senate seats in a chamber of 100. It is not realistic for California or Kentucky to expect equal status to the continental United States.

Similarly, it is unrealistic to expect China to treat Japan or Korea as equals. Japan is merely the size of one Chinese province. Korea is probably smaller than all of China's 23 provinces.

When a country is a mid-size power, it should behave like one. Japan and Korea have no problems following U.S. leadership. They should show similar deference to Chinese leadership on Asian issues.

Is the size of territory is really important? A big country run by a bunch of idiots or small country governs by smart people, which one you want to chose? If not because of the bad governance of Ching government during 17th to 18th centuries, westerners and Japan wouldn’t dare to invade China, at that time China territory was huge but administrated by a bunch of losers.

U.S is making exactly the same mistake of old Chinese imperial dynasties even today, because China didn’t treat states surrounding equally, we lost Korea and Vietnam as typical examples, even these two countries embraced our culture and use our writing, what we have done for them? Nothing…we treated them like a barbarians or inferior species and demand tribute from them…and as result they changed the writing and hate china and Chinese people up until now. As for US, most people in the world already embraced westerner culture and learn English after WWII (people did hard work to save money so their children can go to best English or western school) but U.S and western countries had reward them? Nothing…not only that, they looked down and mocked people around the world and treat others countries uncivilized ones, there is no equal in term of relation with westerners countries especially US even these hypocritical countries professed and valued human right and equality. I’m not exaggerated by saying that…one just needs rewind and watch the earlier movies from last 5 decades ago, it shown not only western supremacist (physic and intellectual) while other were either barbarians, weak, inferiors or losers. As US famous saying state “do as I say but don’t do as I do” and the outcome of this unfair & unequal treatment incited most countries to revolt and feel resentment toward western countries similar as Korea and Vietnam toward China few centuries ago.

Israel did not recieve any military aid or even civilian aid apart from low interest loans until 1967, it was only after 1967 that all the aid started, and in 1967 Israel took out Syria, Jordan and Egypt backed by all arab states

Great Britain ruled 1/6 of the globe from a tiny island for over 250 years, size has nothing whatsoever to do with power projection

US re-built Japan and South Korea after WWII and Korean war, thats why they will do anything for US, again what has size of a country got to do with anything, Japan with no resources as a small nation took most of Asia and China in WII, I really dont know where u get ur ideas from that size = power or importance

Hong Kong and Singapore are two tiny islands yet 40% of worlds trade passes through them, should they bend over for Indonesia because its bigger in "size"?

Japan and Korea are two very powerful economic powers, and China has to accept that and do business accordingly, this inferiroity complex is what caused WWII

S.Korea, China, Japan Seek Security Cooperation
The government is reportedly seeking to establish a security dialogue body allowing bureau chiefs from South Korea, China and Japan to discuss military and security cooperation.

"Consultations are underway between Seoul, Beijing, and Tokyo to launch a tripartite security dialogue body this year," a government source on Monday said. "Officials from defense ministries in the three countries will take part in the body."

This will be the first such body. The three countries are expected to carry out substantial joint exercises rather than the mere humanitarian maritime search and rescue exercises they currently cooperate in.

The body is also expected to be helpful to building a multilateral security system in Northeast Asia. The idea is based on an agreement reached by the leaders of the three countries in Beijing in October last year, the source added.

link: http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_d...0021600692.html

Bravo

Who wants to be the first to say this is the beginning of an Asian NATO?

Who wants to be the first to say this is the beginning of an Asian NATO?

Nato by definition is a military alliance, I don’t think Chinese neither Japan or Korea want this type of relation unless they want to gank up against a common enemy which it’s none for now. They want create security pack to prevent misunderstanding between them and to prevent others far far away foreign powers from taking advantage of their differences with divide and conquer tactic to maximize the political or economical gains. Especially China wants to deny U.S.A of selling CHINA THREAT around Asia and stir up animosity between Asian countries and China. For Japan and Korea, they’ have already tasted Uncle SAM’s medicine, they want to have an exit for future in case that U.S become nasty and assertive politically or economically.

To break away from US containment, China is already been member of SCO and Asian countries +3 (Japan, Korea and China), now it’s working to form North East Asian Security pack and the other front is Pakistan + India + China + Afghanistan security pack, I don’t know how feasible will be but India has nothing to lose unless it wants to play a containment game against China.

Japan edges from America towards China


Sitting in his office in Tokyo last week, a senior official pointed to a recently published volume called “Japan Rising”. “I look at that book every now and then to cheer myself up,” he said. It is easy to understand why. Right now, Japan has got that sinking feeling.

China is about to overtake Japan as the world’s second-largest economy. The country’s national debt has hit an awesome 180 per cent of gross domestic product, (un)comfortably the highest in the world among rich countries – and there is no credible plan in place to hack it back. Toyota, a company that used to embody Japan’s reputation for quality, is enmeshed in a safety and public relations nightmare. Last year, the Japanese economy shrank by more than 5 per cent. And the high hopes that surrounded the reformist government of Yukio Hatoyama, the prime minister who was elected last summer, have quickly dissipated. Mr Hatoyama’s approval ratings are sinking and the Japanese business and civil service establishment seem eager to dismiss him as an ineffectual clown.
How Japan reacts to this new sense of weakness – exaggerated though it may be – will matter to the whole world. The country’s size and strategic importance make it critical to America’s Pacific strategy and to China’s geopolitical calculations.

As it adapts to Japan’s new circumstances the Hatoyama government has, almost unwittingly, initiated a debate about the value of Japan’s alliance with the US. Some western observers in Tokyo muse that perhaps Japan is once again following its historic policy of adapting to shifts in global politics by aligning itself with great powers. Before the first world war the country had a special relationship with Britain. In the inter-war period Japan allied itself with Germany. Since 1945, it has stuck closely to America. Perhaps the ground is being prepared for a new “special relationship” with China?

When Mr Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan took power last August, it broke more than 50 years of almost continuous administration by the Liberal Democratic Party. The DPJ is keen to differentiate itself from the LDP in almost every respect, and foreign policy is no exception. In an interview last week, Katsuya Okada, Japan’s foreign minister, said that the LDP followed US foreign policy “too closely”. “From now onwards,” says Mr Okada, “this will be the age of Asia.” The foreign minister adds that talk of Japan choosing between China and the US is meaningless, and that Japan’s friendship with America will remain “qualitatively different” from its relations with China. But some DPJ party members have called for a policy of “equidistance” between China and the US.

The early policies of the Hatoyama government have confirmed the impression that something is afoot. The DPJ wants to move a vital US military base on the island of Okinawa– a move that has alarmed and angered the Americans and raised questions about the future of the US-Japan security treaty, and of the 50,000 or so US troops stationed in Japan.

If the Okinawa dispute was an isolated incident it might be taken as a bit of an accident, stemming as it did from a campaign promise. But Mr Hatoyama seems to have gone out of his way to confirm that things are changing. In an article for the New York Times, published just before he took office, he decried the failures of American capitalism – what he called “unrestrained market fundamentalism” – and implied that the US is in irreversible decline. The new Japanese prime minister has also spoken of establishing a new East Asian community, including China but excluding the US, and modelled on the early versions of the European Union.

The impression of a tilt away from America and towards China was confirmed last December when Ichiro Ozawa, the dominant figure in the DPJ, led a delegation of more than 600 Japanese to Beijing, including 143 parliamentarians. Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, posed smilingly for photos with every one of them. When Xi Jinping, tipped to be Mr Hu’s successor, visited Tokyo shortly afterwards, he was rushed in to see the emperor – the usual requirement that 30 days notice be given for such a visit was waived.

So what is Mr Hatoyama up to? The uneasy suspicion in Tokyo is that even the prime minister himself may not really know. Mr Hatoyama, it is said, often proposes grand- sounding schemes – whether on climate change or Okinawa – without really thinking them through.

The prime minister’s vagueness means that it is probably overdoing it to suggest that Japan is definitively shifting away from its postwar special relationship with the US. But, nonetheless, over the long term the country clearly faces a crucial strategic choice.

One option would be to assume that China is gradually going to displace the US as the dominant power in the Asia-Pacific region and, therefore, to try to cultivate a much warmer relationship with the government in Beijing. The alternative would be to hug the US even closer and to cultivate warmer relations with other democratic nations in the region, such as India and Australia, in what would be an undeclared policy of “soft containment” of Chinese power.

For the moment, it makes sense for Japan to aim for good relations with both the US and China. In the long run, Japan is likely to face an uncomfortable choice.

Soon or Later, Japan will join Asian club....US is in desperation now

Japan and s.Korea join the Asia club for what? to against US? against Russia? you are joking!
before US withdraw from Japan and Korea, dont dream things will change. Japan and Korea will be running at the front when US has conflict with China. These are top dogs US has in Asia. Even India knows how to think before listen to Uncle Sam. Japan and Korea dont think, they are not allow to think nor say no.

get some sleep, dream too much will decrease your productivity at work.

Japan and s.Korea join the Asia club for what? to against US? against Russia? you are joking!
before US withdraw from Japan and Korea, dont dream things will change. Japan and Korea will be running at the front when US has conflict with China. These are top dogs US has in Asia. Even India knows how to think before listen to Uncle Sam. Japan and Korea dont think, they are not allow to think nor say no.

get some sleep, dream too much will decrease your productivity at work.

Do you think China wants to have Korea and Japan as permanent enemies? nor these two want to be permanent servants of US. Chinese gorverment will do what ever it takes to pull these two out of U.S sphere of influence, it's so "logically and naturally" obvious.

FYI I'm on vacation so I dont mind to have some overtime dream...hehe

If the U.S. keeps bashing Toyota then Japanese attitudes may change towards the United States. Similarly, the refusal of the U.S. Congress to sign the Korea-U.S. FTA (i.e. free trade agreement) may change Korean views of the United States.

you still dont understand what is slave-master relationship.
you and your girld friend can brake up by a movies ticket or just one argument.
Japan and US dont. the more US beats Japan sh1t out from month, the more Japan enjoys it,
and Japan love US more. dont believe me, watch it out.
you dont understand Japanese, dont think in your Chinese way. They dont have
Chinese logic in head. Japan has their own culture.

Chinese gave Japan early education, forgive them on WW2. guess what,
they treat Chinese are fish meat. US dropped 2 nuke bombs on Japan,
Japan kisses US and call it daddy.

you still dont understand what is slave-master relationship.
you and your girld friend can brake up by a movies ticket or just one argument.
Japan and US dont. the more US beats Japan sh1t out from month, the more Japan enjoys it,
and Japan love US more. dont believe me, watch it out.
you dont understand Japanese, dont think in your Chinese way. They dont have
Chinese logic in head. Japan has their own culture.

Chinese gave Japan early education, forgive them on WW2. guess what,
they treat Chinese are fish meat. US dropped 2 nuke bombs on Japan,
Japan kisses US and call it daddy.

Yes, basically yes.

you said one day Japanese will, which day? in 3010? a holly one 1,000 years later?
Japan wants can not over come US want. US wants them to be dogs, continue to be its own hunting dog. US beat up its own dog does not meant he will give the dog to China.
be real.

Machao, if you really like Uncle Sam's dog, dont waste time to negotiate with the dog. Talk to the owner directory. when the price is good, you take it home. China can not pay the price currently, and the bog will not leave the master at this moment. China is still 1/3 or less then 1/2 of economic size, 1/10 of military size.

money talks, bullsh1t walks.