this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
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This is the kind of shit Japan said about its Great East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere when it basically subjugated a lot of its neighbors prior to WWII... I hope history won't repeat itself in such a way.
I came here to mention Japan's "Asia for Asians" campaign in the early 1900s. Glad to see I'm not the only history nerd commenting on this post!
No. Japan embraced European racial ideology but still wanted its own empire. This was problematic for Japanese imperialists because Europeans considered them as lesser life forms, and reiterated this in the League of Nations. Thus, capitalist Japan has always had to have a contradictory view of race, wanting to be equal to Europeans (and superior to non-Europeans) while not being European.
This racial view of the world is no longer so overt, but still exists. European leaders still consider themselves a white "garden" compared to the non-white "jungle". Who is considered European, Western, and/or white can be changed. Following the war in Ukraine, Russia has been described as Asian more frequently. For the collaborationist regimes in South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, they are often grouped in as the "West," but because they are undeniably Asian (unlike Russia), they will never be completely accepted. Racists don't ask you for your nationality before they push you off a cliff - they just look at you. Japan & South Korea need to realize that they are Asian instead of begging white supremacists to be honorary whites.
I'm from Europe, and no one here or in america considers Korea or Japan uncivilized or a "jungle". On the opposite, lots of weebs and kpop/kdrama fans all around.
Most of the world has moved over the concept of race, and political ideologies are what now unite people. And Korea and Japan, being democracies, belong with "western" democracies more than China. China knows this, and they try to play on feelings about race and geopraphy
"Europe is a garden. We have built a garden. Everything works. It is the best combination of political freedom, economic prosperity and social cohesion that the humankind has been able to build – the three things together. And here, Bruges is maybe a good representation of beautiful things, intellectual life, wellbeing.
The rest of the world – and you know this very well, Federica – is not exactly a garden. Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden." -High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell
Also my point is East Asian countries' proximity to Westernness is very conditional.
Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden.
Notice the important word: Most.
Something makes me think that the use of Most in there instead of all is to include in the garden also other western countries that are indeed democracies, such as Canada, Australia and the US. AND Korea and Japan.
The context here is that garden is a synonym for democracy. And is undeniable that Western countries, while not perfect, have the least flawed democracies out there together with few other countries, such as Korea, Japan and very probably India (despite the later populist rhetoric, which is present in the US and some EU countries as well).
No. Actually, when you have a European calling most of the world a "jungle," they are quite obviously being racist.
I strongly disagree, considering that that are many other countries outside of the EU that are white. The whole American continent is such as example. So race is not the divider here, considering that half of the white population lives outside of the EU.
So either if it related to the government system of those countries, and the word most makes sense, or it would not make sense at all
You're being quite ridiculous. Here is the full transcript for anyone who cares. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/european-diplomatic-academy-opening-remarks-high-representative-josep-borrell-inauguration_en
As for you, well, enjoy your racist garden.