U.S. and China (and Japan)

The topic of China seems to be a sensitive one, within this organization, even within this country.

Among this organization's many target issues is the topic of clean energy, which has run into some resistance in this country due to financial and funding problems (i.e. total lack of funds and Prop 23 in this upcoming election). But here, an article on why U.S. and China should team up on the clean energy front.

Japan and the U.S. have had much to collaborate on, both with clean energy as a prospect and also on high speed rail. But both are also things that China has been jumping in on, and even received praise in the U.S. for their advanced technology and ability to move forward on these issues, unlike the U.S. side.

China is a point of worry for many people, for various reasons, though it all comes down to that fear that China is going to one day take over the whole world. The world's largest powers are feeling threatened, and justifiably so. China has already overtaken Japan as the 2nd largest economy to the U.S., and that is starting to make people nervous. Most of all, if China becomes the new focus, what will happen to the U.S.-Japan relationship? Granted, that relationship is considered fairly stable, but who knows what will happen once China jumps in and creates a stable relationship with this country, if that ever happens.

This whole "ruling the seas" tension is already making things much more complicated than all 3 countries need them to be. It's a shame that the Conference's Trilateral Relationship panel didn't turn out to be the most ideal of arrangements; it could have sparked some very significant and much needed dialogue on the topic. I would have liked to hear where it could go.

Overall, I don't feel like I know enough about the relationships between the 3 countries to really make any critical judgments or form any substantial opinions on the issue, but I do think that this organization needs to continue to work hard to provide Japan activities and the Japanese American community's activities with large amounts of visibility. The work that's going on there needs to continue to be recognized, not overshadowed by fears or potentials with China. At least the US-Japan activities and collaboration are real.