Op-Ed Contributors

Turn crisis into opportunity

By Li Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-08 08:03

Japan is likely to adopt an expansionary fiscal policy, and its national debt rating is expected to fall further. The triple disaster has created a situation in which the government has to increase consumption tax, and the ruling DPJ is expected to start tax reform this year and change its earlier promise of subsidizing expenses.

An effective solution to the Fukushima Daiichi power plant problem still is nowhere in sight. This situation could last long. The crisis, for all we know, could snowball into a security problem for the entire human race and question the Japanese government's capability of governance and crisis management.

In contrast to the impressive self-discipline and order showed by Japanese people in the face of disaster, the performance of the government (or the lack of it) has created many doubts. Some questions being asked are: Why couldn't relief and rescue workers be quickly sent to affected areas and relief materials airdropped in time? Why wasn't information on the nuclear leaks forthcoming? Why has coordination between the government and relative parties been so poor? Why has foreign aid not been effectively utilized?

The government's inadequate disaster relief effort can be mainly attributed to the country's political structure.

Japan is a closed society where people tend to be inward-looking, and its structural problems can be resolved only through institutional opening. For example, Japan could lift its restrictions on immigration to change its population structure, encourage immigrants to start businesses and provide more investment opportunities.

Facing its worst disaster since World War II, Japan should have quickly and boldly accepted relief and aid from China and other countries. But it didn't, and relied on the United States. It's time Japan realized that it can no longer get "special war procurements" from the US, because Washington today is more worried about Tokyo's continued holding of US treasury bonds.

If Japan can identify its real problems, resolve to find solutions to them and reform its structures, it can turn the current crisis into an opportunity to revitalize itself. Otherwise, its national strength may continue to decline.

Constrained by its inherent geographical vulnerability, such as relatively small land area, scarcity of resources and sitting above shifting tectonic plates, as well as its aging population, Japan has to choose its development path prudently.

It could start by learning lessons from its wartime mistakes, develop friendly relations with neighbors and promote regional economic integration. And it should be China's neighborly responsibility to help Japan on such a road.

The author is director of the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(China Daily 04/08/2011 page8)