Greater China and Japan: Prospects for an Economic Partnership in East Asia (review)

256 China Review International: Vol. 5, No. 1, Spring 1998 5.One result ofthis neat organization ofhistory is that the author attributes the growing use of descriptive techniques during the Six Dynasties almost exclusively to the advent ofNeoTaoist thought, making no mention of the influence of earlyfu poetry (although she comes very close to demonstrating that influence in her discussion of Guo Pu's poem, "Roaming with the Immortals," pp. 37-38). 6.Siu-Kit Wong has pointed out the tendency of early writers to oversimplify the respective meanings of qingand jingand, as a consequence, their relationship. See Wong, "Ch'ing and Ching in the Critical Writings ofWang Fu-chih," pp. 121-124. 7.The author ignores, at several other points throughout the work, the role ofconvention in the interpretation of commonly found figures and imagery. One example is her discussion of Du Fu's "A Tired Night" (pp. 101-102), where the traditional associations between the moon and dew, as well as dew and fireflies, are lost behind the commentary "the poem appears to be nothing but a sketch ofvarious disconnected scenes drawn from an autumnal night just before dawn. " 8.Elsewhere in his poetry, Li Bo uses the same expression to refer to the immortal dwelling of the mythical Penglai mountains. See his "Mingtang fu" in Ju Tuiyuan and Zhu Jincheng, eds., Li Bojijiaozhu $ÈHRìÌ (Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe, 1980), vol. 1, p. 43. Robert Taylor. Greater China and Japan: Prospectsfor an Economic Partnership in East Asia. London and New York: Routledge, 1996. 215 pp. Hardcover $65.00, isbn 0-415-12448-8. Paperback $18.95, isbn 0-415-12447-6. There is no more important relationship for the future of East Asia than the one between China and Japan. Professor Taylor brings to his study a command of all economic aspects of this relationship, drawing on interviews in both countries and an insightful reading of Chinese sources. His case studies of Japanese investments provide a virtual manual of dos and don'ts for prospective investors. An overall optimistic assessment of the prospects for an economic partnership prevails throughout. Only in the closing pages is this assessment tempered by a brief reminder of potential countervailing factors in future Sino-Japanese relations. Professor Taylor's optimism is soundly argued on the basis of economic interaction between the two up to 1994. Indeed, had he been able to include Japanese investments in China since then, his case would have been even stronger.© 1998 by University Beijing's improvement of the legal and administrative environment triggered a ofHawai'i Presssurge of Japanese capital into larger projects in 1994, in contrast to the earlier caution with regard to both the size and nature ofJapanese investments. The book details the changes in Chinese laws on labor, distribution, trade, and investment Reviews 257 during the period 1992-1994—changes that met many, although not all, ofthe previous complaints by Japanese entrepreneurs. As against the dismal record ofJapanese passivity in agreeing to the ill-advised giant Baoshan steel plant near Shanghai in the early 1980s, Tokyo has taken an active role in advising Beijing on major problems confronting economic modernization . In 1992 the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) established a Green Aid Plan. It sponsors demonstration projects in China to improve energy efficiency in steel plants and other large enterprises so as to reduce sulfur emissions. The Japan Iron and Steel Federation and the Japan Society of Industrial Machinery Manufacturers cooperate in training programs and the transfer oftechnology. In addition, Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA) program funds the application oftechnologies for environmental protection at the provincial level, working through a special organization in Beijing set up by Tokyo in 1991. Here as elsewhere Professor Taylor goes beneath the surface of familiar trade and investment data to give an idea ofthe human dimension ofSino-Japanese economic interactions. He recognizes that Tokyo is not acting on simple altruistic impulses. Much ofJapanese assistance is in anticipation of subsequent opportunities for participation in the world's largest market. In addition, Chinese complaints allege the withholding ofcutting-edge technology, thereby allowing Japan to maintain its competitive advantage. Nonetheless, economic complementarity is mutually desired and may be advanced...