20. Why Japan Can't Compete With China

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/01/why-japan-cant-compete-with-china/266800/

In the article "Why Japan Can't Compete With China," Brian Fung, an editor at the Atlantic argues that Japan's lack of human capital in contrast to China's great population and man power limits Japan's capabilities against China. Fung acknowledges that Japan is one of the three powers that can combine with each other to "keep Beijing hemmed in," but at the same time, he introduces Japan's problem by stating that it could end up being just a theory. Fung points out Japan's relatively small population in comparison to China's enormous population and adds that the median age of the Japanese population is older than the Chinese by nearly 10 years. He also includes that although Japan is known for its complex and efficient technological developments, the lack of human capital "begins to eat away" at such advantages. Fung refers to the instances of the Japan and china's island dispute and notes that Japan faces the challenge of finding new seamen and patrol ships quickly enough while China is able to produce new vessels and convert old ones progressively. He worriedly states that Japan's emergency solution is to convert ten old vessels and to use old people to crew them.

Fung's purpose of this article is to introduce Japan's possible difficulty in the counter-China coalition. He asserts that Japan's capabilities are distracted by its lack of human capital and is not able to reach that of China's. Fung intends this article toward audiences who are informed about the issue in China and Japan, including their dispute with the Senkaku islands, or Diaoyu islands as the Chinese call it. He intends to feed the audience's interest with information of the two countries' progresses and issues along with a different thought about the potential of each country.