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China has been far more skilled than Japan at attracting the attention of the international community.

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Ikuo Kayahara, a retired SDF major general and now a professor at Takushoku University in Tokyo.

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In Japan, you need to also bring bribes to pay the government before any business activity can be undertaken.

The same is true in China. It's called "bribery by design." One payment to the right person greases the wheels. But if you want, you can go and collect all the permits and approvals you need to set up shop, it's just gonna take you a while.

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earthquake, Tibet, Olympics Game, Milk Crisis to name a few

How about the fact that Chinese people are in almost every country of the world in great numbers.

In China, just bringing jobs to the country is well taken. In Japan, you need to also bring bribes to pay the government before any business activity can be undertaken. No doubt China has lower wages and much less tight conditions for workers, but I don't hear too many Americans or Europeans complaining when they wear their NIKEs while listening to their iPODs or watching their big screen TV. All of which are mass produced in the same China.

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well since china has lots of events in 2008 it is no wonder they attract more international attention. One can remember the earthquake, Tibet, Olympics Game, Milk Crisis to name a few.

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Well, when you have 1.3 billion people you are going to get attention. Other countries are going to feel their strategic interests lie with engaging you (as Taiwan has learned). The fact the Chinese have poured money into developing their military since the first Gulf War only underscores the necessity of engaging them.

Observers are generally heartened that the current generation of leaders, mostly Soviet-trained technocrats, is giving way to a new generation who've studied law in the West.

The Chinese like to bully and threaten and so get a lot more attention.

Without specific examples it's difficult to comment.

As for their exports, almost all of them are made to be sold under someone else's brand name. Mattel, or whoever, set up shop there to take advantage of low labor costs and a lax regulatory environment which reduces production costs. It's really up to them, in my opinion, to ensure the goods are not harmful to consumers.

One is one stronger ground in criticizing China's refusal to allow the RMB to float, a necessary step to becoming a market economy. Watch for that issue to heat up...

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The type of attention should be understood. China doesn't have a ww2 sword of Damacles dangling but if the poison dumplins hit the european and american market place the attention generated is obviously less than desirable.

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There is very little China is doing right now on the international stage for which Japan should be feeling pangs of envy. Most of the posters above have pointed out why fairly well.

If the retired SDF major general Ikuo Kayahara is waxing nostalgic about Japan's former military glory against the backdrop of China being able to send warships to the Indian Ocean to battle pirates with minimal democratic process, then perhaps he needs to become reacquainted with the official Japanese government policy regarding Japan’s military capabilities, and perhaps his own nation's constitution.

China’s economy may have flourished during the 90s and into the 00s, but it did so on a foundation of corner-cutting and cheating, utilizing low quality materials, poor design, and full awareness that international laws governing product safety were being broken on a daily basis. No business, even one as large and seemingly unstoppable as China, can survive long by bringing products to market that poison, maim, and kill.

Japan’s doing just fine in not making international headlines the way China has over the past 60 years.

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A country that have the hands tied in foreign policy by the dendence on the USA protection is a country that can not be respected by he's pers. Politicians can waste mountains of money and nothing is going to change the image of Japan crawling or jumping if the US say so.

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Assuming he means the international business community, it's because China: Is willing to suppress human rights and pay; Will use inferior materials/ingredients; Will ignore any amount of environmental common sense to get your product made and crammed onto the shelves of stores around the world.

China does the stuff the business world has naughty dreams about doing.

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Could be because it is eight times bigger and a nuclear power.

Does it matter?

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I couldn't disagree more with bakabaka. Japan is generally very low-key in international relations. The Chinese like to bully and threaten and so get a lot more attention.

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bakabaka- I second that!

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Stamping your feet like a spoiled child and saying " ME!ME!ME!" is how Japan attracts the attention of the International community.

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