Over to Japan
It must be hoped that the sound and sure information about political and economic prospects in Japan which has not emerged during the occupation will become available quickly now that the peace treaty is in force and Japan is an indepen- dent Power once more. For despite the confidence of Mr. John Foster Dulles and the hopes of the Yoshida Government no outside observer can be sure that Japan is well on the road to democracy. The news of the signing of the promised— threatened might be a better term—treaty with the Chinese Nationalists in Formosa strikes a jarring note. So does the news, at the other end of the political scale, of Left-wing student demonstrations against the Americans in Tokyo. About the origins of such moves, and the strength and breadth of the support for them, we know too little. Japan is still an unknown quantity, and outside opinions about her future are more likely to be compounded of ignorance with an admixture of fear than to be the outcome of a careful examination of fact. The first stirrings of a demand for protection against cheap Japanese exports have already been heard from Lancashire. The signs of uneasiness at a possible revival of Japanese militarism are still perfectly visible in Australia and New Zealand, despite the safeguard provided by their mutual-defence pact with the United States. The possible consequences of a Japanese move for more active participation on the anti-Communist side in Korea could be awkward in the extreme. There is not much chance of any rapid swing to the Left. But there is quite a considerable chance that the achievement of sovereignty may lead to a clash between those elements seeking a new and strictly nationalistic Japanese policy in the world and those favouring close co-operation with the Western Powers. Mr. Yoshida is not so firmly in the saddle that he can face this possibility with equanimity either now or in the elections in a few months' time.
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