Jeremy Patrick D.

Dela Cerna
Political Theories from Asia
Prof Kisho Tsuchiya, Sem 2, 2024
Final/Term Paper

1. Discuss the problems related to knowledge production about Politics/History of Asian

region, country, and the people based on the course materials. But, refer to some of the
following keywords: Orientalism, Asia as Method, Autonomous Social Science Traditions,
comparison, colonialism, Cold War, power relations, class, subaltern, history from below,
politics of forgetting, war and regime change. If you wish, you may further discuss how these
issues might be relevant to the Mindanao situations.

Throughout my life, I have wondered why the Philippines is somehow behind

compared to other nations, especially in Asia, when, in fact, many people argued that
the Philippines was more developed compared to the countries in Asia before. There
are also speculations that the Philippines was rich just next to Japan. A lot of people
also considered that the time of former President Magsaysay was the golden Years of
the Philippines due to his reforms and fight against corruption. In fact, the Philippines'
GDP growth rate per capita in Southeast Asia in 1950 was the highest up to 1960. I was
curious why the Philippines, in the past up until the present, was never able to become
a mighty nation. Is it because our ancestors before were Austronesian? Is it because it's
been too long for the Filipinos to find their identity during the Spanish colonial period? Is
it because our country is too reliant on the other foreign influence? Is it because of our
electoral system and government? There are a lot of questions in my mind about why
and where the Philippines has gone wrong. For starters, I'll focus my paper on East
Asia, discussing the different histories, systems, and progress, mainly what I have
understood during the discussions, documentaries, and research, highlighting Japan
and the Philippines countries during the late 19th - 20th century with the application
some of the keywords.

Among East Asian countries, what intrigued me the most was Japan, which went
from being a pre-industrialized isolationist country during the Sakoku era to becoming a
large empire during World War II. The Meiji Restoration was the starting point of Japan
turning the country into an empire. During the Meiji era, the class system was abolished,
its government was centralized, and its policy in terms of foreign powers was
progressive. It carried on the nation's modernization, and foreign nations supported the
military reforms that went along with that modernization. Due to these changes, Japan
expanded its influence by occupying Taiwan and annexing the Ryukyu Islands and other
islands near Japan in the Pacific. In the 1890s, the Imperial Army of Japan became the
most modern army in Asia, and the Imperial Navy grew larger by acquiring French and
British ships. During this era, Zaibatsu was developed, which are the financial
conglomerates that dominated Japan's economy. These businesses significantly
accelerated the quick industrialization and modernization of Japan. With its modernized
navy and army, Japan won the first Sino-Japanese war against massive Chinese forces,
strengthening its influence within the Korean peninsula and allowing Japan to acquire
the rich natural resources of coal and iron.

With this scenario with Japan before, let's imagine that the Philippines has never
been colonized before and entered its own Sakoku era. Could there be a chance that
the Philippines could develop its own progress, especially with the small influence from
the West? According to Syed Alatas, due to continued globalization and the legacies of
colonialism, Asian social science has historically been affected by Western academic
traditions. It has occasionally resulted in a dependence on Western theories and
approaches that might not adequately account for the complexity of Asian society.
However, he doesn't point out that Asia should isolate itself. Instead, it should make use
of applied research in developing societies. Asian scholars might collaborate and
network more to exchange knowledge and create regional viewpoints. As a result,
different theoretical frameworks and approaches may arise. One of the challenges is the
various languages in the Philippines, which can make it difficult to associate with each
other. Still, if there is a collaborative study of different traditions and cultures in the
region, there could be a chance that the Philippines might create its own identity, history,
and system.

In the course of World War I, Japan was able to expand its domain in East Asia.
Joining the Entete, they were able to take the colonies of Germany in the Pacific and
Asia, taking control of the Qingdao in China, which was a former colony of Germany.
This war also diversified its industry due to its European allies' orders of war materials.
Japan participated in the Paris Paris Conference, gaining a permanent seat in the
Council of the League of Nations. During the Taisho period, the threat of the communist
party was alarming, which led them to be brutally repressed by the government, ending
the threat they imposed during the period. Emperor Hirohito's reign brought about the
Showa Period, which strengthened ultranationalism in Japan for several reasons,
including the existence of Nohonshugi organizations, which provided economic
solutions in rural areas and won increasing support from the people. The new Japanese
nationalism was based on the Bushido moral code and the notion that Japanese people
were superior to those of other Asian countries. Ultranationalism also led to the creation
of the Kodoha faction, which follows the imperial way, and the Toseiha faction's
opposition to the Kodoha faction. With the Mukden event serving as rationale, the
Kwantung army, a stronghold of the Kodoha faction, later invaded Manchuria, which
also led to the withdrawal of Japan from the League of Nations. The Kodoha faction
underwent a purge of its members after their coup d'état in 1936 undermined them.

Meanwhile, Western powers colonized the Philippines for a long time. Because
of this, the West imposed its political, economic, and cultural dominance on the country.
Reynato Ileto's Orientalism highlights how colonial and Western versions of Philippine
history sometimes downplay or mislead local experiences and viewpoints. This affected
the country's development by adapting Western influence, flawed democracy, and
inability to create an essential system for its local respective places. He also highlights
Carl Lande's classic work, which focuses on political structure in the Philippines. Where
modernization is affected by the patronage system because the Philippine government
is reliant on the US catering to their interest within the country in exchange for support.
Slow progress due to self-interest is one of the critical reasons why the Philippines is
behind compared to others. Their ambitions mainly focus on winning the upcoming
elections rather than on implementing projects that can truly benefit the country. The
Philippines's party system is useless since the country is candidate-centric, which they
can just transfer to another party. I somehow envy Japan's nationalistic attitude since
they mainly focus on developing and expanding what is necessary for the nation. Even
though the Philippines was colonized before, it took a lot for the country to gain its
independence due to the fact we can't deny that some people prioritize their own gains
and benefits.

During World War II, Japan occupied the Philippines, Indo-China, and the Dutch
Indies, demonstrating its imperialist plan to use the region's resources to seize control
and spread throughout Asia. They sought to pursue the Greater East Asia
Co-Prosperity Sphere in a way. In actuality, the empire imposed its own form of
colonialism on neighboring Asian nations despite its stated objective of releasing Asia
from Western colonial rule. I think if Japan had a different approach to the other
countries rather than occupying them, then the Co-Prosperity Sphere could be possible
since Japanese occupation only strengthens the justification of the Western powers to
intervene in East Asia in a form by providing the countries with their independence. Still,
Western influence remained after they achieved their freedom. The book Asia as
Method proposes to promote transnational solidarity and collaboration within the Asian
region to strengthen Asian viewpoints and promote understanding amongst people.
With this approach, we can say there is a chance that Asia can cooperate with proper
dialogue. In my perspective, if Japan hadn't invaded Manchuria or pressured the
Kuomintang, this would have allowed the KMT to focus on communist insurgencies in
China. One of the factors that caused communism to grow larger in China was Japan,
which led to the overthrow of KMT in 1949. This caused a series of domino effects. The
spread of communism in East Asia later on became the reason why Western influence
was strengthened in the region.

In conclusion, the series of events in the development of the societies

significantly affects their standing position in the region at the present time. A lot of
researchers argue that East Asia could be different if they had a collaborative approach.
The West took the conflicts within the region advantage to strengthen its influence in
Asia by interfering with the various wars. At present, due to the rising tensions in Asia,
the Western presence is significantly high since different Asian countries are reliant on
the support of the US. The Philippines has taken its stance on the tension against China
by letting the United States have bases within the country and having maritime
exercises. It is quite understandable now that the Philippines can't stand on its own feet
due to its policies relying on foreign investors. The slow progress was due to the fact its
electoral system is quite lacking, mostly due to the rise of different political families
within the country. The idea of focusing ideology wasn't mainly established, maybe
because of its long history of colonization. For this reason, they can't organize a
long-term plan that can benefit the country since various interests need to be
considered. The change for the government to be progressive is to change its roots,
which start with electoral reforms.

References:

Alatas, Syed Hussein. “The Development of an Autonomous Social Science

Tradition in Asia: Problems and Prospects.” Asian Journal of Social Science 30,
no. 1 (2002): 150–57. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23654629.

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "First Sino-Japanese War." Encyclopedia

Britannica, October 12, 2023.
https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Sino-Japanese-War-1894-1895.

Chen, Kuan-Hsing. “Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization.” Duke University

Press. Accessed May 2, 2024. https://www.dukeupress.edu/asia-as-method.

Ileto, Reynato. Orientalism and the study of Philippine politics. Accessed May 2,
2024. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01154451.2001.9754223.

Killeen, Mr. Amon. “Japan’s Victory in World War I.” U.S. Naval Institute, June 15,
2021.https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2021/june/japans-vi
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Smith, Henry D. Journal of Japanese Studies 2, no. 1 (1975): 131–47.
https://doi.org/10.2307/132042.

Squires, Graham. “Meiji Period.” World History Encyclopedia, October 20, 2022.
https://www.worldhistory.org/Meiji_Period/.

Swan, William L. “Japan’s Intentions for Its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity
Sphere as Indicated in Its Policy Plans for Thailand.” Journal of Southeast Asian
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