TOKYO -- To say that Americans generally know very little about Asia
may be understating the obvious.
Each day the U.S. media in all its forms exposes a rampant Eurocentrism.
The latest in a series of polls on the subject, but with a twist, shows
that while Americans may not know much about Asia, they have strong
feelings on who the U.S. friends are there.
A majority does not know that the capital of North Korea--where a
historic North-South summit will be held June 12-14--is Pyongyang, not
Seoul, or that U.S. naval bases are gone from the Philippines.
However, a majority of Americans see China as the major concern in the
region, while Japan and South Korea are seen as allies.
Those are some of the findings of a poll by the Henry Luce Foundation
Inc., an organization that has spent a quarter of a century trying to boost
awareness of Asia. In a random telephone survey released late in 1999,
1,200 American adults turned up short on details ranging from geography to
politics to trade in Asia.
"The importance of Asia to the U.S. can hardly be exaggerated," said
the foundation chairman, Henry Luce III. "Yet many Americans are lacking in
their general knowledge of the region."
More recently, U.S. relations with Japan have "suddenly" come under
close scrutiny in Washington, reports the Far Eastern Economic Review in
its "Intelligence" column (Issue dated May 25).
Consultant Richard Armitage, an adviser to presumed Republican
Presidential candidate George .Bush, believes the information gap on Japan
is as glaring among members of Congress and among politicians as the polls
show it is among the general public. Armitage is gathering a panel of
experts who will prepare recommendations on the future of Washington's
relations with Tokyo before the campaign heats up in September.
Bush in November rebuked the Clinton administration for stressing ina
and not paying enough attention to such traditional allies in Asia as
Japan, South Korea and The Philippines.
"Our strategic partner is Japan," Armitage told the magazine. "It hosts
our military presence and allows us to project our strategy throughout
Asia."
The Council on Foreign Relations, a foreign policy think tank, has
established two other groups analyzing America's ties with Japan.
The Asia Foundation, headquartered in San Francisco, opened a full
office in Tokyo last year.
Ahead of the lot was The Heritage Foundation, a Washington D.C. think
tank, which has stepped -up its Japan activities after being known for its
studies and experts in Asia on China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and
as publisher of the "US-Asia Statistical Handbook."
Heritage named a Senior Fellow based in Tokyo last year. (In the
interest of transparency, that Senior Fellow is the author of this column).
Dr. Larry Wortzel, Director of Heritage's Asian Studies Center, spoke
to a full house at a Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan luncheon on
"The Armies of Asia" in March. The audience included Ichita Yamamoto,
State Secretary for Foreign Affairs from the House of Councilors.
Wortzel's address, plus a seminar at the Tokyo Foundation on "Theater
Missile Defense and Japan" comprised Heritage's first public activities in
Japan in many years.
There is also hope for more information flow on Asia, from American and
international newspapers and agencies.
Interest in Japan's reviving financial scene has pumped up bureaus
such as Associated Press, Bridge, Bloomberg and Reuters among others. New
internet services spring up almost daily.
Helping Americans to work their way up the learning curve on Japan are
64 American bureaus here employing 333 foreign and local correspondents,
by far the largest foreign contingent.
Japanese media are most heavily represented in the U.S. with 177
correspondents.
People-to-people-wise, Japan holds an edge. There are 317,966 Japanese
living in the United States (mainly New York, Los Angeles, Washington
D.C., Chicago, and San Francisco) while only 42,774 civilian Americans and
about 30,000 military live in Japan.
Edward Neilan (eneilan@crisscross.com) is a veteran journalist, based in Tokyo, who covers East Asia and writes weekly for World Tribune.com.