"Businesspeople and Researchers Who Will Ruin Japan"
— From Takamasa Kadota’s column in the monthly magazine Hanada, June 30, 2020
The following is excerpted from a serialized column by Takamasa Kadota, titled "The Businesspeople and Researchers Who Will Ruin Japan", published in the monthly magazine Hanada.
Hanada is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but for readers all over the world.
If you haven’t subscribed yet, you should head to your nearest bookstore immediately.
Why? Because it is filled with genuine, substantial essays like this one.
And yet, the price is only 950 yen (including tax).
Since January of this year, I have spent five months relentlessly pursuing, researching, and writing about COVID-19.
This work has culminated in the publication of my book Pandemic 2020 (Ekibyō 2020) by Sankei Shimbun Publishing.
Throughout the process, what I thought most deeply about was this: eventually, Japan’s businesspeople and researchers will be the ones to destroy the country.
I couldn’t help but wonder if these individuals believe that it wouldn’t matter if their homeland disappeared, so long as they could chase profits, gain returns, or satisfy their ambitions.
The fact that Japan’s economy came to a standstill the moment China’s economy froze due to the spread of COVID-19 must have been shocking for many Japanese citizens.
Although we were aware of our dependence on China, no one expected that it was this deep.
Alarmed by the situation, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened the Council on Investments for the Future on March 5 and stated:
“For goods with high value-added that are heavily dependent on supply chains from a single country, we will promote the relocation of production bases back to Japan.
For other goods, we will work to diversify production bases to ASEAN countries and others, so we are not dependent on a single nation.”
This declaration of intent was promptly reflected in the government’s will, as 220 billion yen was allocated in the fiscal 2020 supplementary budget as subsidies to encourage the return of production facilities to Japan.
In essence, this was a government-issued directive: “Withdraw from China.”
However, I was shocked when I saw the results of a survey conducted by JETRO in April of that year.
The Japan Chamber of Commerce in East China surveyed its 710 member companies, and a staggering 90% responded that they had no plans to alter their supply chains or relocate their business bases.
As seen in the anti-Japanese textbook riots of 2005 and the 2012 anti-Japan protests triggered by Japan's nationalization of the Senkaku Islands, Japanese businesses operating in China have sustained major losses every time some form of political friction arises.
But what we are seeing in the world today is fundamentally different from the temporary turmoil caused by past political incidents.
What we face now is an uncontrollable hegemonic power: China.
This monstrous regime tramples on freedom, human rights, and democracy, and brazenly alters the status quo by force.
The international community must now confront China to defend universal values.
Take Australia, for example.
In response to its call for an independent investigation into COVID-19, China has imposed retaliatory measures: halting Australian beef imports, increasing tariffs on barley, and banning Chinese travel to Australia.
But Australia has not backed down.
Its steadfast resolve comes from a firm belief:
“If we lose here, it will mark the death of freedom and democracy.”
And what about Japan?
Despite Prime Minister Abe’s clearly stated policy, Hiroaki Nakanishi, Chairman of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), said the following at a regular press conference on June 8:
“Japan must maintain good relations with China, which is an important market.
Keidanren will continue to engage in active dialogue with both countries’ business communities, and through initiatives such as the Belt and Road and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific, contribute to economic development.”
These are the words of a merchant whose only concern is profit—entirely blind to global trends, the government’s intentions, and the universal values that people in liberal democracies are supposed to uphold.
But the tide of the world is frightening.
The United States has already begun tightening its surveillance of companies supplying dual-use technologies—those that could be repurposed for military use—to China.
Naturally, Japanese companies are not exempt from this scrutiny.
One of the targets is Toyota, boasting a consolidated profit of 2 trillion yen.
China has its eyes on Toyota’s fuel cell technology and intends to apply it to drones.
In response, Toyota is engaging in joint research with Tsinghua University, aiming to contribute to China.
But what if Toyota’s fuel cell technology were to be used to drastically increase the range of drones, enhancing their capabilities as weapons or reconnaissance tools?
How would the United States react?
Try to imagine a sky filled with drones flying over Japan—or the United States.
We must not forget that these technologies are being realized through China’s “Thousand Talents Plan”, which recruits top researchers and university professors from around the world with extraordinarily generous compensation packages.
These individuals live in high-rise apartments equipped with heated pools and gyms, provided with beautiful secretaries dispatched by the Public Security Bureau, and enthusiastically produce research results for China’s benefit.
And the gateway through which all this happens?
The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
Even if Japan’s business and academic worlds—blinded by peace and complacency—were to regret their actions, it would be too late.
The reoccurrence of something like the Toshiba Machinery CoCom violation incident is now “just around the corner.”
Those who, without realizing that we are at a historic crossroads, continue to side with a regime that crushes freedom and human rights—
They deserve every bit of condemnation they receive.
