Xeno Man comments

Japan will never go bankrupt as long as it kowtows to the American overlords. The whole rationale of "Japan can go infinite QE" is coming from the fact that almost all Japanese assets are being held hostage in the USA under the supervision of the US Treasury. Japan can only go bankrupt if it has the permission from the USA itself.

If Japan goes bankrupt, it would shake the foundation of USD global regime for a moment. The days that Japan go bankrupt are the days when the country's sovereignty is reduced to just another Hawaii for the USA. As we speak, many major Japanese companies are being taken over by foreigners in the mist of the pandemic. Many of these foreigners are Americans who prefer Reaganomics or neoliberalism.

I don't worry if Japan itself will go bankrupt because the country will be acquired and bailed out by the Americans. I rather worried about the fate of Japan if it becomes Americanized. Just look at how fallen the UK became after it felt as nothing more than an American lapdog. UK's culture is reduced to a level as low as an American tourist. This is the fate awaits Japan under Abe and LDP cronies.

Move on, it is just insane QE at works. Not bound to the current reality at all, like the American stock markets.

Masayoshi Son buys back stocks and sells off a lot of his assets. He was definitely threatened and pressured by Paul Singer, lord of vultures.

This is a sign of the next Japanese company to become foreign in the next few years.

There have been a surge of netto uyoku acting pro-Abe and pro-China at the same time. Did the LDP cronies get so desperate to hire Wumaos for their international PR department?

Without proper ships, they wouldn't able to protect their own coastline. Japan has one of the best shipbuilding yards, so extending a loan is not a big deal. Both side wins.

Vietnam can build its own coast guard ships with imported materials. The VCP gave out a favorable contract to the Japanese out of political reasons. Abe's core campaign is to help the private businesses salvaging good deals in the times of hardship, and the Vietnamese leaders simply filled the hole. Vietnam, with a lot of money already, can acquire the American coast guard ships better than buying Japan. However, the VCP ought to help Abe out with his elections, so they brought his ships. Vietnam is also doing with Trump's America, which they are the second biggest buyer of American agricultural products and natural resources. President Trump recently praises Vietnam openly during his rally at the Whirlpool factory.

On the military wise, South Korea and China built the best navies in Asia but Vietnam had the best of the best on their side: Russia. If Vietnam wants to build warships, it will go to Russia instead. If Vietnam wants to build military aircrafts, it will go to Russia instead. Turkey even went with Russia recently after finding out that American equipments are overpriced at best. The only things that Vietnam will buy from the USA are the UAVs probably, while Vietnamese military corporations are secretly developing their own UAVs as well.

Russia and the US are the best military manufacturers in the world. Vietnam does not need Japan if it ever went on military shopping.

Vietnam army is pretty bad if you look it up.

They are solidly around top 20 in the Global Firepower Index for many years. In the Southeast Asia, many American experts and Indian military personnel considered Vietnam is currently the top dog of Southeast Asia to deter China. Vietnam army is far from bad but merely weaker than China due to years of Nixon's misguided policies on China. Henry Kissinger recently saw Vietnam as the next potential threat against China and the great ally for the West in the coming future.

Please don't squeeze Japan in between, you only humiliate the LDP cronies with such ultranationalist assessment. Vietnam and Japan are best pals right now, so please don't ruin the relations with such outlandish statements. Daddy Abe would not approve of your action either.

Current Account is a rather complicated matter, so one can't simply said deficits or surpluses are good or bad. It depends on the domestic situation and international situation of a country, so one can make a sound judgement. Well, Japan has been performing worse every year, and the economy is very stagnant. Current Account surplus or deficit won't improve the already bad conditions that Japan currently suffer.

Nomura Holdings, the joke of investment banking among global investment bankers, basically summarized the nature of Current Account here.

"From the above current account identity, we can see that a large current account deficit driven by a sharp fall in the gross domestic savings is often the ‘bad’ type for longer-run growth prospects, as it signals that the country’s foreign liabilities are being used to finance domestic consumption, with little prospect of generating future returns to repay these foreign debts.

On the other hand, a current account deficit driven by a sustained rise in domestic investment can be viewed as the ‘good’ type in the longer run, if the investments earn a high return (e.g., worthwhile public infrastructure projects or high-tech manufacturing plants).

Ironically, while large current account surpluses have insulated Northeast Asia from the EM turmoil, they are mostly “bad” types and not a positive sign in terms of long-run growth potential.

Take Korea for example, domestic saving ratios are high due to the aging populations building a nest egg for retirement and limited investment opportunities for companies. In Thailand, the massive current account surplus resulted from high household debts and prolonged political uncertainty. These economies are struggling with domestic structural headwinds, ranging from rapidly ageing populations, high sensitivity to rate hikes, to low productivity growth. They are also open economies, highly dependent on exports and, therefore, very exposed to the rising risk of an export slump, because of worsening trade protectionism, slowing growth in China and the global electronics cycle turning down."

Japan is probably the most "Communist" country in the world. On par with the current CCP, which it is not a surprise when many Japanese bureaucrats are either in Chinese pockets or allied with the CCP in many forms. Those ideas can be seen in Thomas Piketty’s book "Capital in the Twenty-First Century". The key figure for this Japanese "Communist" system is the entrenched bureaucracy.

Both Koizumi and Abe kinda failed at their plan of liberalizing Japan from this "Communistic" system. When Koizumi privatized the Japan Post, the bureaucracy saw him as a threat, so they eliminated him and Koizumi Children. Shinzo Abe has been more successful than Koizumi because he consolidated the bureaucracy under his Cabinet. At the same time, he has to face the regional bureaucrats slowing him down all the ways.

Toshiba is probably the greatest success of foreign, activist shareholders in Japan. Shinzo Abe wants to help the activist shareholders but it appears the bureaucrat factions in Japan are still powerful. He might need the helps from the good ole USA itself, like how Obama spectacularly destroyed the bureaucrat overseas operations through sanctioning the Yakuzas. Obama's sanctions against Yakuza are responsible for the rising decline of Yakuzas across Japan.

And how's that going? There are still too many "executive officers” and “advisers” with no legally defined fiduciary responsibilities, and too many cross shareholdings. As for shareholder returns, if you go to the websites of a typical listed company and read their “basic policy on shareholder returns”, you’ll find that most of the ambiguously expressed message is about keeping internal reserves (i.e. a justification for why they DON'T give generous shareholder returns).

-GBR48 from Japan Times basically answered my whole point for a long time.

Let's have a listen!

None of these concepts can survive within political systems. And governments do not reform themselves. They consider themselves to be perfect, particularly if they have just won an election, sanctifying their perfect nature.

The reforms that the article speaks of were expected to come with Abenomics, but after gathering the booty into their coffers, Japan Inc. didn't like the idea of reform and politely declined. And very little of the 'trickle down effect', dribbled down to the ordinary people.

It is unfair to blame the stats on the sales tax rise. Hyped by the media, world+dog went out and bought everything they were going to buy for the next six months before the rise, and then didn't need to buy anything bar essentials after it. Hence, sales were cannibalised from the post-rise period creating a bump, with a trough after it. This heavily magnifies the difference in figures.

There were other options to a rise in sales tax (although it is far too low for a first world economy, and far lower than most others). But no government is going to stop sluicing cash from public funds into private pockets, directly or indirectly. All governments have done this, but the 'one party state' stability of the Japanese government, post-war, has made them experts at it. That is why the Japanese state has a huge credit card debt, and why Japan Inc. has sacks of cash. If you are staring at a big hole in the ground and a big pile of soil, it isn't difficult to work out what happened.

Abe's big idea was for the BoJ to paper over the cracks in the economy, which it has done. He also fabricated a fiscal demon - deflation - to go with the political one - Kim Jong-un.

Deflation is only a bad thing if you are lazy and want to get rich sitting on your rear by your swimming pool. It doesn't affect the ability of a well-run company to turn an honest profit, and is nothing more than an indicator. One of the things it indicated was that Japan Inc. needed reform, but Japan Inc. has only reformed twice since the start of the Edo period (in 1852 and 1945). Both came courtesy of the US government. It didn't enjoy either and it doesn't want to do it again.

To compete, the obvious requirements are to loosen up the labour market from the current, frigid model, flip to promotion according to ability (not age), embrace new concepts via start-ups and the disruptive/sharing economy, and pay fewer staff more.

But none of these are seen as 'problems' by those in charge, who can rely on 57 varieties of Communist-level state support when the balance sheet goes red. Even if they no longer turn a profit, there will always be a bail-out to be had. With so little risk, why rock the boat by adopting nasty foreign behaviour?

The rise in nationalism, putting globalisation to the sword, and the consequent collapse in global growth, intensified by Covid-19, will see Japan Inc.'s declining position relative to the RotW PLC actually improve, as the state moves to prevent damage in the way it always has. Unreformed, Japan Inc. cannot compete on global terms, but it also cannot decline quite as dramatically as the rest of the world will.

I suspect this will be an opportunity for Japan Inc. to retrench and to celebrate its inflexibility as a benefit rather than a curse.

Post-Abe, the LDP is unlikely to swing further towards economic (or any other) reform. It is more likely to take the opportunity to quietly drop Abe's less popular policies - pro-tourism, pro-China, pro-global and pro-reform. Don't expect a Japanese Trump, but do expect a reversion to an earlier model. Something a bit more Showa era. Everyone loves a bit of retro. Young and female Japanese might not enjoy it quite so much, but in a nationalist world, you either do what you are told and fit in, or suffer the consequences.

Magic Monetary Theory may be invoked, or the public debt figure can simply be allowed to rise, to fund this. [Foreign] criticism of this can simply be ignored, as the Japanese financial position is mystically 'different' and foreign economists just don't understand.

The sales tax might even be reduced to reboot the economy when the virus passes. Under Abe, Japan dipped its toe in the globalised water, more than ever before. Too much risk. Too much loss of control. Too much consequential damage. Too many tourists. The desire to return to a simpler, 'more Japanese' way will score more votes.

Is this good for Japan? Not financially, but figures can be massaged or ignored. Not in the long term, but politics is all about the short term. Japanese culture will not evolve, as all healthy cultures do, but traditional societies operate under different rules, and can freeze their cultures in a past age, regardless of the damage it does (particularly to women).

Ideally, Japan and its financial power would have become an important link in a global push to mediate against climate change. Whilst the response to the virus is actually doing that by accident, much of it will not stick when the virus passes. The new world order, based on nationalism, will have no 'global' anything, so there will be no 'global psuh' for Japan to be part. As climate change hammers the country, it will just be more of the disasters that Japan has become used to.

What a country needs, what a country wants, and what a country gets are three entirely different things.

-GBR48 from Japan Times basically answered my whole point for a long time.

Let's have a listen!

None of these concepts can survive within political systems. And governments do not reform themselves. They consider themselves to be perfect, particularly if they have just won an election, sanctifying their perfect nature.

The reforms that the article speaks of were expected to come with Abenomics, but after gathering the booty into their coffers, Japan Inc. didn't like the idea of reform and politely declined. And very little of the 'trickle down effect', dribbled down to the ordinary people.

It is unfair to blame the stats on the sales tax rise. Hyped by the media, world+dog went out and bought everything they were going to buy for the next six months before the rise, and then didn't need to buy anything bar essentials after it. Hence, sales were cannibalised from the post-rise period creating a bump, with a trough after it. This heavily magnifies the difference in figures.

There were other options to a rise in sales tax (although it is far too low for a first world economy, and far lower than most others). But no government is going to stop sluicing cash from public funds into private pockets, directly or indirectly. All governments have done this, but the 'one party state' stability of the Japanese government, post-war, has made them experts at it. That is why the Japanese state has a huge credit card debt, and why Japan Inc. has sacks of cash. If you are staring at a big hole in the ground and a big pile of soil, it isn't difficult to work out what happened.

Abe's big idea was for the BoJ to paper over the cracks in the economy, which it has done. He also fabricated a fiscal demon - deflation - to go with the political one - Kim Jong-un.

Deflation is only a bad thing if you are lazy and want to get rich sitting on your rear by your swimming pool. It doesn't affect the ability of a well-run company to turn an honest profit, and is nothing more than an indicator. One of the things it indicated was that Japan Inc. needed reform, but Japan Inc. has only reformed twice since the start of the Edo period (in 1852 and 1945). Both came courtesy of the US government. It didn't enjoy either and it doesn't want to do it again.

To compete, the obvious requirements are to loosen up the labour market from the current, frigid model, flip to promotion according to ability (not age), embrace new concepts via start-ups and the disruptive/sharing economy, and pay fewer staff more.

But none of these are seen as 'problems' by those in charge, who can rely on 57 varieties of Communist-level state support when the balance sheet goes red. Even if they no longer turn a profit, there will always be a bail-out to be had. With so little risk, why rock the boat by adopting nasty foreign behaviour?

The rise in nationalism, putting globalisation to the sword, and the consequent collapse in global growth, intensified by Covid-19, will see Japan Inc.'s declining position relative to the RotW PLC actually improve, as the state moves to prevent damage in the way it always has. Unreformed, Japan Inc. cannot compete on global terms, but it also cannot decline quite as dramatically as the rest of the world will.

I suspect this will be an opportunity for Japan Inc. to retrench and to celebrate its inflexibility as a benefit rather than a curse.

Post-Abe, the LDP is unlikely to swing further towards economic (or any other) reform. It is more likely to take the opportunity to quietly drop Abe's less popular policies - pro-tourism, pro-China, pro-global and pro-reform. Don't expect a Japanese Trump, but do expect a reversion to an earlier model. Something a bit more Showa era. Everyone loves a bit of retro. Young and female Japanese might not enjoy it quite so much, but in a nationalist world, you either do what you are told and fit in, or suffer the consequences.

Magic Monetary Theory may be invoked, or the public debt figure can simply be allowed to rise, to fund this. [Foreign] criticism of this can simply be ignored, as the Japanese financial position is mystically 'different' and foreign economists just don't understand.

The sales tax might even be reduced to reboot the economy when the virus passes. Under Abe, Japan dipped its toe in the globalised water, more than ever before. Too much risk. Too much loss of control. Too much consequential damage. Too many tourists. The desire to return to a simpler, 'more Japanese' way will score more votes.

Is this good for Japan? Not financially, but figures can be massaged or ignored. Not in the long term, but politics is all about the short term. Japanese culture will not evolve, as all healthy cultures do, but traditional societies operate under different rules, and can freeze their cultures in a past age, regardless of the damage it does (particularly to women).

Ideally, Japan and its financial power would have become an important link in a global push to mediate against climate change. Whilst the response to the virus is actually doing that by accident, much of it will not stick when the virus passes. The new world order, based on nationalism, will have no 'global' anything, so there will be no 'global psuh' for Japan to be part. As climate change hammers the country, it will just be more of the disasters that Japan has become used to.

What a country needs, what a country wants, and what a country gets are three entirely different things.

Sooner or later, you'll have an asset crisis, when people want their money from their bank but cannot get it.

The reason why Japan didn't immediately collapse in the Argentinian style after the bubble collapse is the United States.

The US forced Japan to undo its bubble economy earlier before things get way worse than anyone can imagine. The US now found China, Vietnam and India as the substitutes for manufacturing as well as Taiwan and South Korea for hi-tech manufacturing (except most electronic companies of those two are majorly foreign-owned, unlike Japan). Japan was forced to de-industrialize before it can make meaningful, institutional reforms like Germany did many decades before Japanese bubble economy - Germans avoided the negative sides of Plaza Accord because they never had a bubble economy in the first place.

The US forced Japan to always invest its money into American territories and the United States itself. Almost all of Japanese assets, which make Japan as the world's net creditor, are all held in the United States under the watchful eyes of the US Treasury. However, the profitability and liquidity of those assets are in a huge question mark. We all know that the US has the leverages above Japan because it manages Japanese assets in the USA. The US government can unilaterally seize all Japanese assets in the West if Japan does something against the US politically - The USA frequently did in the past like with Venezuela or Iraq. Not to mention, the US forced Japan only to buy US bonds that will further enhancing the infallibility of USD global regime.

Like you said, all Japanese assets are now in the hands of US Treasury and American banks. Japanese government can't liquidate them to get the money back for the people.

The world is in a deep automotive depression because China was already in one before the pandemic. Japan, EU and the US will suffer the depression for a long time due to automobile oversupply. Tesla and other EV newcomers as well as luxury auto firms will likely weather the crisis.

Sony is a foreign-owned company long ago.

https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/stock/information.html

If it wasn't for foreign executives, Sony would have gone under like Toshiba.

Elliot Management was the one who is behind the pressure for Marathon Petroleum Corp to sell off its convenience store business. Many people in the USA criticized the Marathon and Elliot of being short-sighted for selling the retail business. However, I see the opposite.

Both petrol retailing and oil refining are declining industries with a definite end date around 2050s. This means a 50% shrinkage by 2035 and a 25% shrinkage by 2027. Not to mention Japanese retail industry is already oversaturated, while Japanese presence in Southeast Asia and China is also being outcompeted by local players.

With the rise of e-commerce, traditional retailing is slowly becoming obsolete in the West. Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Target and many others are looking for the new way of less relying on the physical market. Not to mention that Amazon recently became the number one ecommerce site in Japan, Rakuten may have lost its dominance in Japan to the American firm. For Seven&i holdings, I feel this investment may be awful since they announced the 73% net decline in profits. I don't think this can be solely blamed on the Covid-19 because the firm itself overextended itself and had to absorb massive losses. Convenience store business is an ultra-competitive one in the USA, and it will be difficult for any foreign firm getting a strong foothold in the USA without some serious price cutting competitions.

Additionally, 7-11

The Pentagon is the one who controls Japan for decades. Japanese leaders only have the choice of choosing the American military manufacturers not anyone else.

A Strong Yen is what prevented the Japanese economy from a worse scenario: Hyperinflation.

Eventually, Japan will be capitulated by the US and EU to open its debt market for foreign investors. This means sovereign debts. Oh boy, it starts looking like Greece once the foreign investors swiftly buy all debts. I think LDP cronies are very happy if their Western masters buy their debts and control their economy.

They definitely fears China is going to buy those debts. Of course, this is the real reason why the US hasn't forced Japan to fully open all of its economy yet - even after the Plaza Accord. China would easily dominate over Japan without firing a shot, which it already did by 50%. Most Japanese real estate assets are being owned by the Chinese through Chinese Japanese or ethnic Taiwanese intermediaries, nowadays. Japan's tourism and consumer economy are entirely dependent on Chinese tourists. Just go to Ginza, people will tell you that Chinese is their only customer of luxurious goods.

Lucky for Japan, the threat of China prevents their country from opening their debt market for Western investors. The US isn't happy if Japan is taken over by China like what the Chinese did with Australia. Japan will live for now.

Borrowing money from Japan, and buying boats which will be built in Japan.

Vietnam is surprisingly the 5th largest shipbuilding country in the world (the data is probably old), and is probably still in the top 10.

https://top5ofanything.com/list/75e48ec4/Shipbuilding-Countries

Today, South Korea, China and Japan took 80-90% of the global orders and tonnages. Additionally, shipbuilding industry is in a huge global crisis like the automotive industry. South Korea and China have to subsidize their shipbuilding industry to keep jobs for the workers and stay industrially relevant. Japan is also the same story.

Anyway, Vietnam clearly can build those ships at top quality but the Japanese loans likely appear to add a condition of employing Japanese contractors. Patrol vessels aren't much high-tech or defense compromising for the Vietnamese military who prefers to do anything by themselves or cooperate with the Russians. Not a surprise that Vietnam allows a Japanese contractor to build those patrol vessels. It might be cheaper to do so.

Except that Fujifilm's profits will stay in the US and not go back to Japan. President Trump is always adamant on the America First initiative, and he will ensure that any foreign firm will stay in the US and spend their USD in the US.

Cronies gonna crony.

China is actively ruining everything in the world.

China: I technically ruled Korea for thousands of years as a client state. Regularly, Chinese emperors intervene and ruin Korean affairs, like the current division of Korean peninsula.

Korea: I am cool with that, master.

America: I brought peace and economic prosperity to South Korea and Japan. Unknown to them, our investment firms actively destroyed their economies during one of speculative attacks in 1997. We now own pretty much all banks in South Korea, and of course our 4-Stars General can have the authority above the South Korean president in the case of wartime.

Korea: No problem, master. I am always loyal to you.

Japan: I industrialized and developed Korea after centuries of backwardness, even China considered Korea was poorer than one of its frontier provinces. I admitted to have done some brutal war crimes but I repaid it with the technology transfer to Chaebols and development of South Korean economy.

Korea: Curse you, filthy Japanese! Koreans will never bow to you again!

Japan will be sidelined if the Keidanren still kowtows to the CCP. South Korea is also the same story with Moon administration tries to mend ties with China for the sake of reunification, while Chaebols are heavily dependent on China's supply chains.

The Ghosn case is weirdly political as I have anticipated. The US and France have a soured relationship, lately.

The EU wants to escape the American dominance, and ultimately emerges as a new superpower. France and Germany have been doing massive M&A activities across the globe to bolster their influences. France nationalized many corporations and companies to create its own military-industrial complex. French economic activities now involved the exploitation of resources in its former colonies of Africa. Unlike the UK, France still kept its empire intact except for Algeria and Indochina. France also acts as an important player of European financial and banking system to deter the US-controlled United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Germany handles most of the EU economic activities, especially export and manufacturing. All of the global core technologies for industrial production are held by the US, Germany and Russia. Germany plays a vital role of ensuring the economic independence of the EU. Simply, France handles the military power, extraction of resources, finance and global M&A influence. Germany handles the economic output, industrial production and stability of the EU.

Like UK, Japan is also a loyal vassal to the US. Renault is weirdly a persistent auto corporation that stands the test of time and unexpectedly expands its influence globally more. France has been setting its eyes on Japan for a long time. The nigh-death of Nissan was a golden opportunity for France to dominate the auto industry along with Germany. When Ghosn restored Nissan back into power around 2010s, Renault's claws went deeper into Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan. Ghosn or without Ghosn, Renault will keep its stakes in both auto companies no matter what. With the limitless helps from French government, Renault will survive any economic recession, while Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors will be subjected to the free market force because PM Koizumi killed the ability of J-govt to act as a protectionist force when he privatized Japan Post. Renault will only have to wait, and it will acquire complete control over Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors like what foreigners did to Takeda Pharma.

Japan Inc is gradually losing its autonomy to foreigners as well as ability of projecting its power worldwide. The Oyajis of Japan used the dirty trick. They arrest Carlos Ghosn under the hope of pressuring the French to back down from the mergers. If Renault fully controlled Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, Toyota will not be relevant in the long term. The French control over Japanese auto industry will be massive and entrenched. It will pave a new movement for foreign corporations picking up Japanese assets like cherries. German auto corporations will be enthusiastic to pick off Toyota or any Japanese auto maker to kill the global competition. Let's not forget that the Chinese will be insanely happy to do M&A in Japan to mount political pressures against the LDP cronies. The Japanese government stepped into the fight against Renault and Carlos Ghosn to save the prestige of Japanese auto industry. This is where the US came in. Americans currently have a soured relations with France over many things. Japan exploits this soured relations to beg the US on their side. Apparently, the US sides with Japan from the shadow through speeding up the trials against the Taylors. It is unknown if the US will deport the Taylors to Japan. The US is making the ambition of Renault difficult at the moment for political reasons between France and the US.

Unlucky for the Japanese, this will be a short victory because Renault will inevitably acquire the control over the whole auto alliance in the long run. If France brokers a deal with the US on the fate of Japanese auto industry, the US will betray Japan in a heart beat as President Trump casually did to Shinzo Abe after Japan wasted 2.2 trillion USDs to satisfy the megalomaniac President. A deal would resemble of ensuring a foreign majority stake in both Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, while Ford or General Motors join the game to get half of the foreign stake. Even Tesla can happily join the game, which Elon Musk will be happy if he kicked a dangerous rival like Nissan out of EV market.

Do do I have a sneaking suspicion that they are only saying this so that they can justify going ahead with the Olympics?

Exactly.

This is contradictory. They said that there is a recovery, then they announce to cut production in 2020-21.

Japan's economy is now slowly being reduced to service-based one where nightclubs and prostitutes are vital for national economy. I often wonder myself that if I ended up in Thailand here instead of Japan. Years of Abenomics finally come into fruition.

You better accept yourself to be bought and owned by a Japanese corporation before the Chinese or American company coming at you in the end.

https://japan-forward.com/chinas-wealthy-out-to-buy-japanese-ryokans-that-suffered-losses-during-pandemic/

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3011062/private-equity-funds-pour-money-hot-spring-resorts-japan

Either way, most of Japanese service industry will be foreign-owned in the long run as there will likely be no Olympics as well as a prolonged Covid-19 economic depression.

When the US sneezes, the world catches an economic recession and a global political crisis.

The US can do it whatever they want with unlimited authority and limitless irresponsibility. The USA has the power to pick the global major powers at a whim after the USSR's collapse. China was a successful example that the US created as a winner in the global political arena, which it also turned into a huge mistake. At the same time, the US also has the power of undoing the mistakes through picking another winners to counteract against the monster that Americans created.

Picking up India and Vietnam against China is the latest scheme in the long list of geopolitical divide-and-rule strategy that American elites planned and conducted. Turkey and the EU against the USSR, Pakistan and Bangladesh against India, Japan and South Korea against Asian Communist Bloc. Imperial Germany against British Empire and French Colonial Empire, Latin American independent nations against Spanish Empire/Portuguese Empire, Iraq and Afghanistan against Soviet bloc,....

The US has plenty of weapons that will sustain its global superpower hegemony for a thousand years. Unless Russia returns back to full power of USSR, then the US will stop being a giant, bullying manipulator.

This should be added another long lists of Japanese violations of human rights, which the US purposely ignored for the sake of keeping their geopolitical stations in Japan.

The US never removed the Zaibatsu families, political dynasties and Imperial Family for the crimes of WWII. The US kept the flawed, fascist democratic state of Japan for the sake of control in the East Asia. Japan is an authoritarian nation for a long time, and it is crumbling down as the economy gets worse every year.

The US may soon pursue Vietnam and India as the better authoritarian alternatives. The story will repeat as Human Rights become ignored by the US, and those nations with authoritarian tendencies will suppress human rights furthermore - Vietnam has a Communist state, and India has PM Modi who acts like a fascist.

Eventually, Nissan will either be fully absorbed by Renault or get acquired by a Chinese big corporation that has state-sponsorship.

Better start brushing up those resumes and learning to code. Mass redundancies coming to a place near you soon.

Computer jobs won't be safe either. Vietnam and India are going to be the prime outsourcing destinations for corporations, and there is a rising development in automation as well. It is better to prepare yourself as an entrepreneur or a business owner.

I keep hearing conflicting stories: Is Fujitsu still fully Japanese? I thought some of its subsidiaries were bought over by china companies?

It is only a matter of time that most of Japan INC will end up in either American or Chinese hands.