ＷＳＪは、過去３回実施された今年の大統領選に向けてのＯｂａｍａとＲｏｍｎｙのディベートの中で、彼らが日本について触れたことは、ただの１度もなかったことを明らかにした。
今やアメリカにとって、日本は歯牙にもかけないような影の薄い存在だということを如実に表わしていると言えよう。アメリカがちょっと脅しをかければ、たちまちおとなしく、従順に彼らの手足になって、思い通りに動く外交官や政治家揃いなのだもの、彼らにとって日本は取るに足りない影の薄い存在であったとしても、何の不思議もない。
とはいえ、中国は５４回も言及されているというのに、「日本は０回」とは、こんなに日本の官僚や政府が一生懸命、アメリカのご機嫌をとっているというのに、なんと甲斐のないことだろう。
日本の政治家やメディアは、過去の栄光にとりつかれる一方で、アメリカが日本をどう思っているかということに、異様に神経を使い、ピリピリしているが、相手は日本のことなど全く歯牙にもかけていないという現実を直視すべきである。
そして、失われた２０年の間に、一体誰がここまでこの国の存在感を失墜させてしまったのか、軽佻浮薄な報道ばかりしていないで、しっかり追及し、改めるべきは根本的に改めていかないかぎり、この国が再浮上する機会は２度とめぐってはこない。
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/10/23/u-s-candidates-silent-on-japan/
U.S. Candidates Silent on Japan
By Yuka Hayashi
- Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
- U.S. President Barack Obama, right, and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney participate at the third and final presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida on Oct. 22.
How many times did U.S. President Barack Obama and his opponent, Mitt Romney, mention Japan in their three election debates this month? Zero. How many times did they utter the word China? 53.
The frequency of the mention of certain foreign nations in presidential debates is by no means the most accurate measure of the U.S. government’s diplomatic priorities. But it is often a good indicator of the levels of interest American voters are believed to have in each foreign affairs issue. For example, during the election debates in 1992, when Japan’s economic prowess was viewed with awe and fear by many Americans, Japan was mentioned a total of nine times, according to a casual analysis of presidential debates of recent decades by JRT. In 1996, Japan’s name came up eight times.
By that measure, the position that Japan occupies in the American voter’s psyche is now at the lowest level in three decades. The big policy issues that worry many Japanese deeply—from territorial rows with China to a debt burden heavier than Greece’s—don’t appear to be weighing too heavily on U.S. voters and politicians.
This year was the first time since 1988 the candidates skipped Japan entirely in the debates. That was a year before Japan’s economy hit its lofty peak. This time around, the attention was on China.
During the third and final debate Monday (Tuesday morning Japan time) that focused on foreign-policy issues, Messrs. Obama and Romney together mentioned China 30 times, as they discussed how the U.S. should cope with the Asian nation’s rapid rise. During their earlier two debates, China was named 20 times and three times, respectively.
Even as he softened his stance toward China during Monday’s debate, Mr. Romney said he would “on day one, label them a currency manipulator” and apply tariffs in areas where China was taking American jobs. Mr. Obama, while emphasizing the positive results of his administration’s tough stance toward China during the past four years, pledged that the U.S. is “going to keep on pressing” Beijing to get more progress.
There was a time when presidential candidates treated Japan with similar enthusiasm, reverence and hostility. During the presidential debates in 1992, the year when Japan was mentioned nine times, the candidates—Bill Clinton, George Bush and Ross Perot—argued over how America should strengthen its economy to rival Japan’s.
“..Nineteen out of 20 computer chips that we have in this country now come from Japan,” said Mr. Perot, a Texas businessman who ran as an independent, during one debate. “We’ve given away whole industries.” On the same day, Mr. Clinton, who ultimately won the election, said that “a record high trade deficit was announced with Japan” earlier on that day, as he pledged to “make sure that other countries are as open to our markets as our markets are to them.”
During the elections that followed, the frequency of the mention of Japan declined, but never completely disappeared. In 2008, Mr. Obama, facing Republican candidate John McCain, named Japan three times—all in similar sentences about how the U.S. should be building fuel efficient cars at home, “not in Japan or South Korea.”
During Monday’s debate, there were a couple of moments when it seemed possible the candidates might talk about Japan.
The first came when the moderator, Bob Schieffer, asked the candidates if they would declare an attack on Israel as an attack on the U.S. “which, of course, is the same promise that we give to our close allies like Japan.” The second opportunity came when Mr. Obama discussed how the U.S., as a Pacific power, is cooperating with Asian allies to balance China’s rise. “We are working with countries in the region to make sure, for example, that ships can pass through; that commerce continues.”
In both cases, the candidates moved on without mentioning Japan.
Follow Yuka Hayashi on Twitter @TokyoWoods
