[We repost this article by the late Prof. Joseph H. Chung, first published by GR in February 2023. Prof. Chung was an indefatigable voice on the politics of Asia-Pacific, especially on the dynamics of the Korean Peninsula.]
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This book is a golden mine leading us to the discovery of hidden not-so-angelic behaviours of the West’s colonialism and neo-colonialism in the Asia-Pacific (AP).
It reveals how the West stole the wealth of the AP; it reveals how the West destroyed the AP values; it shows how the West prevented the development of the AP; it explains how the West violated human rights of the AP people.
And, the book says why the West has behaved so badly in the AP. It is due to the West’s racism of treating the AP people as “Gooks”, that is inferior and stupid people having no right to respect and human treatment.
The book by A.B. Abrams has some unusual characteristics. To begin with, the author should have spent enormous time and resources to check every single event and story which have been hidden for political purpose or the fear of punishment of the responsible people or organization. In a book of 500 pages, there are more than 2,500 references.
These references are provided by Western sources. They are not provided by anti-West sources.
Another characteristic of the book is the use of simple and clear English language avoiding pedantic academic expressions. This facilitates the readers to easily understand the message of what is written.
The book has two parts and 12 chapters. The first part has eight chapters, while the remaining four chapters are in the second part.
The first part is titled: Challenging the Colonial Order: Asian Rejection of Western Hegemony from 1940s
The second part has the title: Post Colonial Empire: Sustaining Western Hegemony in Perpetuity
The first part is the micro-approach designed to show the frictional relations between individual country and the West, while the second part is a macro-approach putting focus on the relation between the West and the AP as a whole.
Chapter 1: Destroying Japanese Empire: How Asia’s First Industrial Power Undermined Western Control.
This chapter presents an extraordinary story of how Japan has undermined the West.
The modernization and the industrialization of the Meiji Restoration era allowed Japan to beat China in 1894-1895 and Russia 1904-1905 and it became the first Asian industrial power. This was an event which has given pride to Asians and alarm to the West.
Some of the Japanese leaders thought that it was Japan’s destiny to save Asia from the domination of the West. For instance, Naniwa Kawashima said,
“We will liberate various Asian peoples from their enslaved state, placing them all into a united bloc, we will free them from the unjust aggressive chokehold…We will curb the unjust, inhuman, thoroughly evil actions, which have been undertaken by the Europeans”.(p.13)
And the idea of Asian Co-prosperity Sphere emerged. It was Kiyashi Miki, Kyoto University professor who proposed the idea and was realized during the Pacific War.
However, the rise of Japan was a threat to the West’s racial supremacy. Even Adolf Hitler was alarmed by Japan’s rise as economic, military power and rival colonial power in Asia. This was something the West could not digest. And, the West decided to stop Japan’s rise.
In the 1930s, the Washington’s Naval Treaty and the British Naval Treaty resulted in the deep cut in Japan’s naval force capability. The oil embargo and embargo on the U.S. exports of strategic goods did hurt the Japanese economy and its war capacity.
These measures were designed to provoke War. At the last minute negotiation in Washington between Nomura Kichisaburo, Japanese Ambassador and U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Japan was asked to abandon China, which was impossible for Japan to accept. This led Japan to attack Pearl Harbour.
Japan lost the war. However, at the beginning of the war, Japan was victorious for which Asians were proud, because an Asian country could beat the Western power. And, this allowed the Asians to have confidence to better cope with Western powers.
USS Arizona burned for two days after being hit by a Japanese bomb in the attack on Pearl Harbor. (Licensed under the Public Domain)
Thus, Japan undermined the West by beating the Western power, Russia. Moreover, during the Pacific war, Japan chased away the Western colonial powers from East Asia and gave the Asians to free themselves from their inferior complex vis-à-vis the West. This had the effect of undermining the West.
Another way of undermining the West was the brutal revelation of the West’s racism during the Pacific war. The West’s pretention of being civilized world was undermined by brutal racism against Asians.
There were many ways of exposing the West’s anti-Asia racism. For instance, Japanese were regarded as cockroach, monkey, venomous snakes or vampire bats.
The anti-Japanese racism has led to hatred against Japanese not only among the people but also civil and military leadership. Admiral William Halsey shouted “Kill Japs! Kill more and more Japanese!” Australian General Sir Thomas Blarney told Americans under his command: “Your enemy is a curious race, a cross between human being and the ape.”
The extreme racism and resulting hatred have induced the American soldiers to commit the worst kind of war crimes. The statement of an American officer is horrifying,
“Nothing can describe the hate we feel for the Nipps. The destruction, the torture, burning and deaths of countless civilians, the savage fight without purpose-to us they are dogs and rats-we have to kill them-to me and all of us killing nips is the greatest sport known-it causes no sensation of killing being but we really get a kick out of hearing the bastard screem”. (p.32).
The GIs had fun in exchanging the skulls of Japanese; some of the skulls were sent to people of highest decision makers in Washington.
Chapter 2: The War Against Defeated Japan: Punishing a Challenger to the West’s Regional Hegemony
Japan was punished for having the cardinal sin of attacking Pearl Harbour with the baptism of nuclear massacre and the humiliation of becoming American vassal state.
The established interpretation of the nuclear massacre in Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been the need for terminating the bloody war and saving millions of lives by not invading the territory of Japan.
But, Japan was ready to surrender as early as April 1945 and Japan was trying the negotiate surrender terms through Sweden, Portugal and Russia. Hence, it was not necessary to kill people with atomic bombs. Already, on July 12, Emperor Hirohito said: “It will be necessary to terminate the war without delay.” (p. 56)
Most of the American leaders were not seeing nuclear attack as necessary to make Japan surrender. General Douglas McArthur and the Naval Chief of Staff, Admiral William Leahy told President Harry Truman that the nuclear weapon was not necessary to make Nippon surrender. Admiral William Halsey qualified the atomic bomb as toy of the scientists wants to try.
The real reason for baptizing Japan with atomic bombs was to warn the Soviet on the one hand and, on the other, to experiment the impacts on human body. In other words, the Japanese were guinea pigs. It may be pointed out that Japanese medical experts and Japanese scientists were excluded from studies of nuclear impact on Japanese people.
For decades this “Hiroshima strike” photo was misidentified as the mushroom cloud of the bomb that formed at c. 08:16. However, due to its much greater height, the scene was identified by a researcher in March 2016 as the firestorm-cloud that engulfed the city, a fire that reached its peak intensity some three hours after the bomb. (Licensed under the Public Domain)
Now, as for the punishment of the Japanese during the 7-year American military government, the book of Dr. Abrams (the book) shows the horror stories of the creation of American version of comfort women, open collective raping, killing and torturing civilians.
The Japanese were punished even after the departure of the American military government. The punishment of post-U.S. military government included the destruction of the Japanese values, making Japan a perpetual vassal state and the transformation of the Japanese territory into huge military base.
The emperor was made to fall from heaven to the earth. The peace constitution made Japan perpetual vassal country of Washington. The internal politics was to perpetuate the pro-U.S. politics run by the conservative party LDP. In 1983, Prime Minister Yusuhiro Nakasone, said that Japan was a American unsinkable aircraft carrier to defend American interests.
Chapter 3: Undermining China: America’s Twenty-year to destroy the People’s Republic.
In this chapter, we learn much about the desperate efforts to destroy China. Washington adopted the following fronts of war against China: the China civil war, Korean War and the deployment of CIA army to destabilize the Chinese regime.
As soon as WWII ended, there was the deep-rooted hostility between Kwon-Min-Tang (KMT of GMG) representing the pro-West Republic of China (RC) and the communist party representing the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
As soon as WWII was over, the shooting civil was declared and PRC was defeated and it escaped to Taiwan with national treasures including the total stock of gold. KMT of Chiang Kai-sek was defeated largely due to the corrupted leadership and poor discipline of its army. But this did not bother Washington.
“For the United States, a dependent client government, even the worst leadership, was far preferable to genuinely popular government that was independent of Western influence.” (p.85)
The U.S. provided full military support to KMT with the deployment of American military forces in large numbers to China to fight along with KMT forces to destroy infrastructure such as railways, factories, utilities and communication facilities. Moreover, Washington provided USD 2 billion in addition to ships, aircraft and military assets.
The U.S. withdrew its armed forces in China in 1949, but the CIA army of 10,000 personnel formed with former KMT forces which was trained in Myanmar was sent to mainland China to destabilize the PRC regime.
During the Korea War, the U.S. Air force attacked Chinese towns and key facilities near the Korea-China border. The objective of these attacks was the indirect way of supporting KMT in its war against PRC.
Another war front was the fight between PRC and the CIA- supported army of Tibet separatist army. The role of Dalai Lama was to destabilize Tibet under Chinese rule and, for this, he was given USD 180,000 a year. This shows the sustained intention of Washington to destabilize China.
The book shows that what the U.S. gained in this was the survival of Taiwan as an important military base of American military.
Chapter 4: The Rise and Fall of Independent Indonesia: A Twenty-year War to Restore Western Control
This chapter offers an extraordinary story of CIA in making Indonesia a corrupted pro-U.S. country and, what is also interesting is Japan’s role in Indonesia nationalists’ fight for liberation of Indonesia from Western control.
The Japanese army invaded Indonesia in 1942 and Dutch was chased away. Japan became the colonizer of Indonesia. But, Japan’s colonialism in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries was lenient and cooperative. In particular, General Hitoshi Imamura was very cooperative with Indonesians.
In fact, on 7 of September 1945, just before Japan surrendered, Japan made Indonesia an independent country. Indonesia was freed from the West’s colonial control. Moreover, Japan left various arms to Indonesian nationalist for their fight against West’s colonial efforts.
On August 17, 1945, the nationalist leader Sukarno declared independence of Indonesia and he became president. But the West began colonial offensive. Indonesia was placed under the British jurisdiction of British Admiral Earl Mountbatten and deployed British armed forces to restore its colonial status. These were gradually replaced by Dutch until 1949 and the Dutch left.
But Indonesia was facing a new kind of war, that is, the war between pro-Indonesia force and pro-Wrest forces. The pro-Indonesia force was led by Sukarno and the communist party PKI.
Sukarno has undertaken major reforms for the stability and the prosperity for Indonesia citizens. He nationalised the oil industry and he initiated the non-alignment movement. In fact, he hosted in 1950 the Bandung Conference on non-alignment movement with Yugoslavia, India, Egypt, Ghana and Indonesia. Russia was sympathetic to this movement.
All these displeased Washington, which had supported the Dutch forces during the war against Sukarno forces. This time, CIA started war against independent Indonesia. CIA deployed huge sum of resources to topple the nationalist government of Sukarno. In November 1957, President Eisenhower ordered CIA to overthrow the Indonesian government by arming and unifying the anti-government force.
Eventually, the government Sukarno was toppled by huge anti-communist forces led by General Mohammad Suharto who succeeded, on February 22, 1967, Sukarno as president of Sukarno, who was assassinated.
The fight for the replacement of nationalist, government saw an estimated 500,000-3 million suspected pro-Sukarno and pro PKI figures and their families killed. During the massacre for which the U.S. Embassy supplied kill kits, there were torturing of civilians, mass killings and hellish collective raping and other barbaric human right violations.
Chapter 5: America in the Philippines: Establishing a Colony and Neo-colony in the Pacific
This chapter presents how the U.S. conquered the Philippines and made it a solid front line force to dominate East Asia. The American perception of the Philippines was well expressed by U.S. Senator Albert J. Beverage.
“The Philippines are our forever. They are not capable of self government. How they could be? They are not self-governing race…We should not abandon our opportunity in the Orient.” (p.174)
Indeed, Washington did not abandon the opportunity. The U.S. invaded the Philippines in 1899 and met strong resistance resulting in the killing of 1,000,000 to 3,000,000 Philippine people in a country which had a population of 6 to 7 million. The U.S. used the scorched earth tactics causing suffering beyond imagination. In 1901, the First Republic of the Philippines was no more.
The U.S. was defeated by Japan in 1942 and during the whole period of Japanese occupation, the HUK (people army against the Japanese army) fought the Japanese until 1945.
However, the HUK’s independence and communist leaning made them a target for the U.S. which came back to re-colonise the Philippines.
In 1946, at the general election, the HUK obtained an important number of seats at the National Assembly in the name of the Democratic Alliance of Socialist Group. But, later, the group was not allowed to participate at elections.
Image: President Manuel Roxas (Licensed under the Public Domain)
The president was pro-U.S. Manuel Roxas who signed the U.S.-Philippines Trade Act under lopsided conditions in favour of Washington. Roxas launched all-out war against the HUK.
The final outcome of the American offensive was the total submission of the Philippines devoted to the promotion of American interest which included the deployment of U.S. forces for 99 years, 23 American military bases, transfer of the right of military decisions to the U.S. and other conditions.
Chapter 6: War in Korea: A New Frontier for American Power
This chapter shows how Washington was able to make a country of five-thousand-year-civilization as an absolutely obedient vassal country of the U.S.
The story of American conquest of Korea began in 1945 through military government (1945-1948). The transformation of Korea into U.S. vassal country began in 1945 by abolishing the government of the Republic of Korea under the leadership of Lyuh Woon-hyung (Yo Un-hyung) with a truly democratic constitution guaranteeing gender equality, the peasant’s land ownership, individual freedom and other stipulations in favour of the ordinary Koreans.
The U.S. military came in September, 1945 and, in December, the original Republic of Korea was dissolved and the military government started to rule South Korea.
The military government in Korea (USAMGIK) was ruled by the military who knew nothing about Korea. As a result, 90% of key government was filled by former collaborators with the Japanese colonial government who were supposed to be punished for their anti-Korea activities. But, they were not punished due to USAMGIK which hired them.
For these reasons, the USAMGIK was not popular. In fact, there were numerous protest movements throughout the country. The military government reacted violently. The Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) in cooperation with local youth terrorist gangs mercilessly attacked those who criticized the military government. There were three notorious youth terrorist gangs, namely, the North-West Youth League, the Dae-Han Youth Corps and the North-West Young men’s Association.
The CIC had absolute power and terrorized Koreans. The CIC and the youth terrorist groups have massacred the population of Hagui village. In the village, a pregnant woman was dragged from her home stabbed her thirteen times with spears causing to abort. She was left to die with child half delivered. There were many cases of such sadistic treatment of innocent civilians.
Direct American military rule ended in 1948, and was replaced by a client government under President, Sygnman Rhee, a Korean who had been flown back at the request of the U.S. military but quickly made poor impressions on all sides for his immaturity and conspicuous immorality. He had previously been impeached by the Provisional Government of Korea for the embezzlement of public funds, and had resided in the U.S. for 20 years.
Under Rhee the U.S. continued to dominate affairs within Korea, and the CIC and the terrorist youth groups continued to torture and kill in population centers suspected of dissent resulting in the deaths of two percent of the population. The most notorious incident was the massacre of much of Cheju Island’s population in 1949 after they began to openly resist the brutalities visited upon them by Rhee’s forces.
To perpetuate the power in the absence of popular support, and the political and economic success of North Korea, Rhee needed an enemy and the enemy was North Korea.
In fact, the war against North Korea provided an opportunity to keep power, as Rhee was losing seats in the National Assembly despite very widely employed terror tactics against voters.
Thus, the interest of Seoul and Washington coincided. Both the pro-U.S ROK government and the U.S. wanted to provoke the war against North Korea. As a matter of fact, there are evidences proving that the ROK arm attacked first the city of Haeju of North Korea and the North Korean army retaliated and the battle became rapidly degenerated into the Korea War of 1950.
Chapter 7: The Desolation of Korea
This chapter tells us the tragic suffering of South Koreans caused by the American military forces. In fact, some of the scenes portrayed in the book were witnessed by me during my one-month long on-foot march to avoid the horror of killings.
The book shows the barbaric atrocity committed by American forces during the three-month occupation of South Korea by the North Korean forces from June 1950 to September 1950 and the occupation of North Korea by UN forces led by American forces from September 1950 to December 1951.
The atrocities committed by the American forces in South Korea include beastly collective rapes and extreme sexual violence, destruction of houses and schools, torturing innocent people and mass killings.
An unidentified unit of U.S. 1st Cavalry Division troops withdraws southward on July 29, 1950, the day that a division battalion pulled back from No Gun Ri after killing large numbers of trapped South Korean refugees there. (Licensed under the Public Domain)
The widely known war crime was the No-Gun-Ri massacre of 400 South Korean refugees who were escaping the war zones. They were held several days and killed by aircraft bombs, land-based machine guns and bayonets.
There were several cases of bridges destroyed killing people on the bridges. The destruction of Nakdong River Bridge was a typical case of mass murdering in a situation where the North Korea forces took four more days before they arrived to the bridge. There was no need to destroy the bridge so soon. But the GIs destroyed the bridge. The American soldiers killed the poor people on the bridge and those who tried to cross the bridge by swimming.
The narrative that the North Koreans were enemies and the war was fought to protect South Koreans did not stand up to scrutiny based on the atrocities widely committed by U.S. forces against southern civilians.
What the book reveals is American racism against Koreans. For Americans, South Koreans were inferior people and not trust worthy.
According to New York Times, General Douglas McArthur considered Koreans as fanatical, barbaric and racially inferior. A number of reports and witnesses indicate that the American military was ordered to kill all South Korean refugees. There was an order “shoot all refugees coming across the river.” (p.145) Joe Lackman, soldier from the U.S. Cavalry at No-Gun-Ri was ordered to kill them all.
The war crimes committed by U.S.-led coalition forces were so cruel and so brutal and so beastly that it is not easy to mention. However, in the report of the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF), one finds this statement,
“The Americans (in Pyongyang) made the Opera (House) and the remaining of the adjoining house into an American brothel. To this brothel, they took by force women and young girls caught in the street. As she (surviving victim) feared similar fate, she did not leave the dugout for 40 days.” (p. 254)
“The chairwoman of the Wonsan (North Korea) Women’s organization aged 25 pregnant was arrested and beaten by American soldiers, exposed publically in the town square and killed when a rod was thrown into her womb with witness present.” (p. 255)
Chapter 8: Vietnamese Long War: How a Thirty-Year Assault to Impose Western Control Ravaged a Nation
This chapter tells us how Washington has paid high price to make Vietnam pro-U.S. In 1858, Vietnam became the colony of France and the wellbeing of the Vietnamese people radically deteriorated in favour of France which became rich and powerful with its lucrative exploitation of Vietnam.
Vietnamese patriots fought ever since and, after WWII, the liberation-fight became more violent and better organized. France left Vietnam being chased by the Japanese 1942. But the ambition of France to keep Vietnam as its colony never weakened. General De Gaul’s colonial aid made a famous speech in 1944,
“I aim of France in her civilizing work in the colonies exclude any idea of self government and any possibilities of development outside French Empire; the formation of independent government in the colony, however distant cannot be contemplated.”(p.301)
The Vietnamese people declared the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. France reacted by deploying 200,000 French personnel supported by 200,000 local auxiliaries.
The anti-France liberation war was well organized by Viet Minh (Vietnam League for the Independence of Vietnam) led by Ho Chin Minh, France fought back by mass killings, burning houses, collective raping of women and girls. However, France lost the war despite generous military support by the U.S. The last battle was that of Dien Bien Phu.
The rein of terror thus ended and the era of French colonialism ended officially with the Geneva Agreement of June 1954. But, the Agreement resulted in the division of Vietnam into pro-West South Vietnam and pro-Vietnam nationalist North Vietnam.
Right after the Geneva Agreement, from September of 1955, the U.S. CIA began its operations of destroying independent North Vietnam and to make it subservient to Washington.
SP5 Capezza burning a dwelling (Licensed under the Public Domain)
The Vietnam War started with the deployment of U.S. overt operation personnel force leading to the all out war against North Vietnam and the Viet Cong of South Vietnam. The shooting war began with false claim of North Vietnamese attack on American warship in the Gulf of Tonkin.
The Vietnamese war lasted for 11 years and ended with the Paris Peace Agreement of January of 1973. And, Vietnam was unified under the fag of communism-friendly North Vietnam.
The holy war of free democracy conducted by Washington paid heavy costs. The U.S. lost 58,220 GIs; North Vietnam and Viet Cong sacrificed 1,100,000 fighting soldiers. The total number of civilian deaths was 2,000,000.
There was another cost which has surely tarnished America’s pretention of being a civilized country. But, such claim was made groundless due to the very uncivilized manners of GIs revealed by the massacre of Mai Lai. The statement of a helicopter pilot is shocking,
“There were elders, mothers, children and babies…They come into the town and rape the women, kill babies and kill everyone…And it wasn’t just murdering civilians. They are butchering the people. The only thing they didn’t do is cooking them and eating them.” (p.314)
There were many other cases like this. This was the real cost to be paid by America.
However, what is astonishing is the fact that Washington succeeded in making Vietnam its faithful ally.
Chapter 9: Japan after the War: From Primary Challenge to Key Upholder of Western Hegemony
This chapter offers an intriguing story of the profound fact that in international politics that there is never eternal foe or friend. It is a story of the able manoeuvre of Washington to force its former fatal enemy country to become obedient servant country.
Even before the ink of Douglas McArthur’s pen used for the Japan’s Surrender Document dried up, Japanese soldiers and its security forces were quickly mobilized to torture nationalist Koreans who were ruled by the American military government and succeeding Korean governments’ rigged election and military dictatorship.
They were mobilized for the Korean War. They were sent to fight for pro-US KMT army during the Chinese civil war.
All these military activities are against Washington’s original Japan policy of preventing it to rearm. In particular, the participation of Japanese fighting forces to the Golf War and the Iraq War was definitely illegal, that is, it violated Article 9 of the Peace Constitution of Japan.
Two questions arise. First, was Japan forced by Americans to remilitarize by the U.S.? Second, was it the wish of Japan to remilitarize itself?
In the book, we see that by virtue of the San Francisco Treaty of 1952, Japan had to become more than American client country; it had to become Washington’s servant country. Japan was forced to become so due to the ultimatum of John Foster Dulles, U.S. Sectary of State who forced Japan to obey Washington or remain without nationhood.
As for the second question, there are powerful groups of politicians led by the Kishi Nobuske-Shinzo Abe line of far right groups who were dreaming for the restoration of Japan’s power and glory of past years. These people are represented by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which ruled Japan every year since 1952 with the exception of six-years of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).
The book tells us that the LDP is partner of CIA which funds the election of LDP. As a result of the concerted strategy of remilitarizing, Japan has become the 8th most powerful military power in the world with as many as three aircraft carriers. Yet, the LDP and the Washington want more. In 2014, Japan passed a bill allowing Japan the right of “collective defence” meaning that Japan can go to war, if allies go to war.
This means that the U.S. can count on Japanese armed forces when and if Washington decides to attack China or North Korea. This is against Article 9 of the constitution. That is why the LDP and Washington are eager to amend the constitution despite the objection by the ordinary Japanese people.
Thus, Japan is threatening the regional stability of East Asia. The intriguing question is why Washington and LDP want to kill China. The U.S. wants to maintain its hegemony. Japan wants to dominate Asia again. Would the U.S. tolerate Japan’s regional domination? No!
Chapter 10: Economic War on Asia: Crushing Rising Economies
This chapter presents a remarkable insight of the West’s economic war against East Asia. Usually, when we talk about economic war, we mean trade war. But there is a war much is more devastating; it is the financial war.
The East Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 was a terrible financial war conducted by the U.S. The objective of the war was to prevent the success of the East Asian model of economic development which is based on the huge productive labour force, high rate of savings, the passion for education, productive collectivism, discipline and other elements of Asian values.
Annual growth of GDP per capita in affected countries from 1995 to 2000 (Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)
The weapons of the war was neo-liberalism, especially, financial liberalization, the neutralization of government policies through deregulation and theft of target countries’ businesses.
The liberalization and the globalization of finance have led to the huge inflow of speculative and investment funds into East Asian countries. This flow of funds was disorderly and harmful in the absence of government control due to deregulation. These funds have led to real estate bubble (Thailand, Malaysia) or sky high short-term corporate debt (South Korea).
The real estate crisis led to massive outflow foreign funds depleting foreign reserves (Thailand and Malaysia). The excessively high corporate debt rate made South Korea Chaebols had to pay short-term debt causing the depletion of foreign reserves (South Korea).
Since foreign reserves are depleted, the target countries must borrow fund from IMF, which does lend funds. But, the offensive IMF imposes repayment conditions which are such that the economy of the target country can be ruined.
The IMF’s debt repayment conditions are called “structural adjustment”. The structural adjustments policy requires drastic devaluation of the target country’s currency, tight monetary policies, stringent fiscal policies, deregulation and privatization of public enterprises.
Under tight monetary policy, the interest rate flies high, while the tight fiscal policy makes tax jump up. These policies invite inevitably the wave of corporate bankruptcies and the army of jobless. The policy of deregulation means the government becomes powerless; the master of the economy is the corporations, especially the foreign corporations.
The drastic devaluation of local currency allows foreign corporations to acquire a ridiculously cheap price the ailing local enterprises. Furthermore, the privatization of public corporations leads to the inflation of the price of public goods.
Under these conditions, the destruction of the target countries’ economies is inevitable. But, fortunately, South Korea and other East Asian countries have survived the crisis and avoided the total destruction of their economies. In short, the American financial war against East Asia did not enjoy the lasting victory.
The book is rich in providing meaningful aspects of the American financial war against East Asia. For instance, it shows the amazing story of ordinary South Koreans who gave personal wedding gold rings, golden necklace other gold product of UAS 2 million worth to pay the debt to IMF.
The book shows how American banks, insurance companies and manufacturing firms acquired almost freely parts of Hyundai, Samsung and other Chaebols. The book shows also how foreign companies bought privatized public utilities (water supply) in other target countries.
Chapter 11: Asia Divided: Unifying Initiative as a Threat to Western Primacy
This chapter discusses the lopsided bargaining power between the West and East Asia. The West is unified through EU NATO and common values system. On the other hand, East Asia is divided by religion, culture, political regime and pro-West and pro-East Asia groups of countries.
True, there is a number of multilateral organizations in East Asia. Some of them are composed of East Asian countries including ASEAN + Three (APT) which is active. Malaysia proposed the East Asia Economic Group, but it was not realized.
On the other hand, as far as Pan-Asia financial institutions are concerned There the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralism (CMIM) which plays the same role as IMF’s role. It has funds of USD 240 billion. Members are the APT.(ASEAM plus China, Japan and Korea).
Then, there is Asian Bond Market Initiative (ABMI) initiated also by APT with the mission to promote local currency denominated bonds.
The CMIM allows East Asia to be less dependent on IMF. These institutions allows East Asia to avoid the tragedy of the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) of 1997-1998.
Then, there are two multilateral financial and investment institutions which allow East Asia to exert influences on regions outside East Asia.
First, there is the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with 106 member countries composed of 42 Asian countries, 21 European countries, 8 African countries, 8 South American countries, and 1 North American country. The function of the Bank is to develop infrastructure facilities needed for sustained economic development.
Its initial capitalization is USD 100 billion. It is the first time that an Asian financial institution can play leading role outside Asia Moreover, it allows East Asia less dependent on the World Bank.
The second is the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative). As of 2020, 147 countries are members including Sub-Saharan Africa (43), Europe (18), Central Asia (17), East Asia and Pacific (25), Latin America and Caribbean (20), the Middle East (17), North America (1) and South Asia (6).
Thus, East Asia is now better prepared to defend against the West’s financial and economic control.
Chapter 12: Pivot to Asia and China’s Rise: Can a Western Dominated Order be perpetuated?
This chapter is the last one and it shows, in fact, the risky part of the West’s desire to maintain its domination in East Asia. The West led by the U.S. has deployed enormous resources to maintain its regional hegemony in East Asia. It has conducted wars; it deployed CIA to topple regime or government which are not West-friendly.
But, the power of the West’s domination in East Asia has weakened despite all these efforts. Hence, the stumbling block to the perpetuation of the West’s hegemony depends on the containment and even the destruction of China.
Now, despite the demonization of China through the weaponization of human right issues and trade war, the power of the West’s hegemony has been losing its strength.
The last means of destroying China and perpetuating the West’s domination is the military conquest. The book presents lengthy analysis of factors which might lead to possible Sino-American shooting war. The analysis puts focus on the various factors which could be responsible for the actual occurrence and the outcome of the war.
Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Treasury Secretary, made the following statement which is clearly what the U.S. wants,
“The United States has an ideology of world hegemony and does not accept any prospect of any country being sovereign or acting on its own. You have to be an American vassal state. Just as the United States has turned all Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan into vassal state, that is the only term as sovereign, independent countries following their own interests…The situation will become more and more hostile. It is not going to go away, because the United States is guided by…ideology of American world hegemony which means hegemony over Russia and China”. (p.433)
Obama’s Asia Pivot is intended to transform the whole of East Asia anti-China battle ground. In addition to the deployment of 60% of U.S. navy, 30,000 GIs, Washington made Cambodia and Vietnam the American military equipment depot and Thailand along with Malaysia the American base of drones. The Philippines is expected to provide key logistic support for American hegemony war.
Moreover, the main NATO countries are expected to participate in the anti-China war. Japan is expected to speed up its militarization and play the leading mercenary role in the Sino-American war. The army of South Korea may also join the U.S. hegemonic war.
I may add that the Quad, the AUSUK and the Indo-Pacific Strategy of Japan, Canada and U.S. alliance countries are expected to play a role in this war. In short, Washington is accelerating the preparation of fatal ant-China war.
However, the book makes a critical analysis of the weakness of American military capabilities. First, the American forces are too much dispersed all over the world. The U.S. has 800 military bases in foreign countries, 174 in Germany, 113 in Japan and 83 in ROK.
Second, the U.S. excessively depends on foreign countries for parts and equipment needed for the production of military equipment. Brett Tingley, defence reporter observed:
“Currently, the U.S. almost entirely reliant on foreign made electronics…” (p. 438)
The report of the Multiple Defence Department reads:”By mid 2010s, there were only two or even one domestic firm producing key defence products, and in some cases, none as local manufacturing forced the Pentagon to look abroad”. (p.437)
Third, the defence industries are over spending due to corruption. New York Times observed.
“The Pentagon’s spending of public money is a dirty business, one that too often has nothing to do with national defence”. (p.441).
The book offers ample information proving the superior efficiency and effectiveness of the Chinese military industries. For example, in the U.S. developing fifth generation of stealth fighters cost USD 55.5 billion as against mere USD 4.4 billion to develop them in China.
By and large, the military superiority of the U.S. is not necessarily threatening China. But what is threatening to China is the blockage of the Malaccan Strait.
In fact, in September 2014, the U.S forces conducted the Valiant Shield exercise to prepare for the blockade of the Malacca Strait and other seaways such as the Sunda Strait and the Lombok Strait. The blockade of these seaways will certainly strangle the Chinese economy.
China is well aware of this threat; more than 80% of oil needed in China comes through these seaways. Therefore, China is doing everything to use alternative sources of energy. The development of electric railways, electric bus and electric cars are promoted to avoid the consequences of the naval blockade of these seaways.
To sum up, this book by Dr. A.B. Abrams opens the door to the wealth of facts allowing us to see what are behind the deep routed racism of the West and how the West will continue to conduct its holy war to subjugate and rule East Asia. This frightens us, because the West-Asia hegemonic war will kill us all.
I thank and congratulate Dr. Abrams for giving us this precious book which should be read by all, especially the Western media.
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Dr. Joseph H. Chung is professor of economics at Quebec University in Montreal (UQAM) and member of the Center of Research on Integration and Globalization (CIEM) of UQAM. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).
