[quote=FlyerInHi]Haha. Japan is done with. They are so desperate that they have national security exports controls against Korea.
Japan was insular and stingy. They should have had they own Belt and Road to spread wealth and development. Japan still uses fax machines and paper vouchers. They are becoming irrelevant. I read the Economist and made the mistake of investing in Sony and Docomo many years ago. Ha! (The Japanese like to say Ha!)
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Japan has lots of issues. But with South Korea, they actually have an upper hand as all the semiconductor manufacturing in SK rely on Japanese exports. Japan is a lot less dependent on SK. But what this actually shows is a complete lack of leadership from the US.
Japan actually has larger investments in SE Asia than China’s Belt and Road. “Collectively, Japan owned $1.667 trillion in foreign assets in the third quarter of 2018, while China owned $1.542 trillion in the second quarter. And has been outpacing China since 2016
“https://www.wsj.com/articles/japans-silent-belt-and-road-is-beating-chinas-11555923604
The China-US Cold War is happening: economic ties, technology, military are all heading that way. There will be at least two systems (legal/technology)/spheres of influence. The Europeans will be the losers in 20 years. Welfare costs, regulation, aging population, behind on technology etc. Russia included in that too – What we see today is the last gasp of Russia’s influence. Seriously? Nuclear powered cruise missiles that spew radiation as they fly around?