An Asahi Shimbun article said this the other day:
Senior journalists from leading English-language newspapers and magazines in Southeast Asia urged Japan, during a recent workshop, to seek a closer relationship with ASEAN members to cope with the increasing influence of China.
The group, in Tokyo for an editorial meeting of AsiaViews, a jointly published weekly online magazine, also opined that Japan should alter its dependence on the United States and improve its diminishing economic influence in Asia.
The online magazine AsiaViews was established in 2004 to present Asian perspectives in a world dominated by Western perspectives.
Ah, it’s goal is to present Asian perspectives in a world dominated by Western perspectives… AND cope with the increasing influence of China. I’m a bit confused.
During the meeting held at The Asahi Shimbun headquarters in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward, participants opened a dialogue on the growing presence of China in Asian diplomacy.
They said ASEAN countries have so far maintained pragmatic approaches to China as a business partner, but journalists from Thailand and Indonesia voiced concerns about China’s growing military presence.
The focus of argument shifted to the Japan-ASEAN relationship, with participants saying it is time for ASEAN and Japan to join forces in dealing with Beijing rather than continue separate bilateral approaches, as is currently the norm.
To achieve this goal, Japan should alter its diplomatic partnership with the United States and other Western countries and start leading the region economically and culturally, participants said. Japan should use its various means of soft power, including manga, to achieve those goals, it was said.
Wait, manga is to be used to deal with “China’s growing military presence” and creating a multilateral approach to China? Are they going to airdrop Sailor Moon pamphlets on Chinese troops? Or does this mean that all the ministers in ASEAN are going to get spiky haircuts and triple Asia’s consumption of hair products?
The participants also said English media in Asia have a mission to disseminate news and perspectives in the region, but it is often difficult for a view from a single country to influence the rest of the world.
Thus, they said AsiaViews, which integrates various opinions from across Asia, can play an important role in eradicating unjust views of the region by the rest of the world.
At this point, I wonder if any of this means anything.
Excerpts of the discussion follow:
*
*
*
Participants were Kavi Chongkittavorn of The Nation in Thailand, Yuli Ismartono and Bambang Harymurti of Tempo in Indonesia, Charles Raj of Malaysian Business, Clement Mesenas of Today in Singapore, Glenda Gloria of Newsbreak in the Philippines, and columnist Natalia Soebagjo from Indonesia. Koichi Nakagawa and Takushi Ohno of The Asahi Shimbun also joined the workshop, as did Isami Takeda, a professor of international relations at Dokkyo University and an adviser to AsiaViews.(IHT/Asahi: November 4,2005)
Those “*” are what is actually there. There are no excerpts. There does seem to be a tug of war, however, between China and Japan over media ties in ASEAN - part of the greater struggle over, I take it, ASEAN itself. A year ago ASEAN released this statement from the 2nd China-ASEAN Seminar on Mass Media Cooperation, stating:
To better promote media collaboration between China and ASEAN and to enhance the voice and perspectives of Asia on the international stage, all participants agreed to the following,
1. Establish partnerships between China and ASEAN news media, and cooperate on information sharing, photo swapping, technical cooperation, exchange programmes, facilitating joint news coverage and exchange of news footages;
2. Expand the media cooperation on the internet, including the possibility of establishing a common website featuring news from China and ASEAN;
3. Program exchange and joint program production between China Central Television and National or other TV stations of ASEAN countries;
4. Promote coverage on the China-ASEAN EXPO and economic cooperation programme and support each other on reporting regional and international events such as 2008 Beijing Olympiad.
http://silkworms.chinesetriad.org/?p=210
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/...0511040099.html
Full Version: Japan-ASEAN Manga Alliance against China
QUOTE
The focus of argument shifted to the Japan-ASEAN relationship, with participants saying it is time for ASEAN and Japan to join forces in dealing with Beijing rather than continue separate bilateral approaches, as is currently the norm.
To achieve this goal, Japan should alter its diplomatic partnership with the United States and other Western countries and start leading the region economically and culturally, participants said. Japan should use its various means of soft power, including manga, to achieve those goals, it was said.
To achieve this goal, Japan should alter its diplomatic partnership with the United States and other Western countries and start leading the region economically and culturally, participants said. Japan should use its various means of soft power, including manga, to achieve those goals, it was said.
when u thought they exploited manga enough by creating hentai now they wanna use manga for politics
Go China!
Manga Banzai.....! 
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Hey I can use this article for my paper! Thanks!
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