On March 30, 2025, delegates from China, Japan, and South Korea held their first economic dialogue in five years. This appears to be a reaction to Trump’s tariff war against the world. Only time will tell what these talks mean for the U.S.-dominated political and economic order, but they may indicate increasing independence from the U.S. However, China, Japan, and South Korea each have different relationships to U.S. imperialism, the nature of which is obscured in the capitalist media.
Japan and South Korea dominated by U.S. in different ways
South Korea, though typically referred to as an “ally” of the U.S., is a semi-colony or a satellite state. The U.S. dominates it politically, economically, and militarily, even if Washington doesn’t control the government directly. South Korea is occupied by the U.S. military, with some 30,000 troops, the third largest U.S. military occupation after Germany and Japan.
This is no conspiracy. It’s how U.S. imperialism operates. This kind of arrangement gives the U.S. all the same control and profits without the overhead costs of an outright colony like “Israel.” This has been the case with South Korea since the end of World War II in 1945.
Japan is different because it is an imperialist power itself. Japan brutally occupied Korea between 1910 and 1945. Today, Japan is generally aligned with and subordinate to the U.S. After World War II, the U.S. deliberately rehabilitated and modernized Japanese industry — to strengthen the Japanese ruling class against both their own working class and the socialist wave sweeping Asia, particularly China, as well as the socialist countries led by the USSR.
After World War II, both Germany and Japan were subordinated militarily by the U.S., with each occupied by the largest U.S. military deployments in the world (that is, there are more U.S. military personnel and equipment, headquarters, etc., in Germany and Japan than in anywhere else in the world outside the U.S.). They are U.S.-occupied imperialist satellites.
The U.S.-imposed constitution on Japan, particularly Article 9, initially limited Japan’s military capacity, and the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty ensured that Japan served U.S. strategic interests in Asia against the Soviet Union and China.
Japan’s post-war economic resurgence (“economic miracle”), aided initially by U.S. policy, eventually led to economic contradictions and inter-imperialist rivalry with the U.S. and Europe. Trade disputes and competition in industries like automobiles and electronics emerged. In recent years, Japan’s government has essentially overridden Article 9 with a serious buildup of military forces. On Dec. 26, 2024, the Associated Press reported:
“The Japanese Cabinet on Friday approved a record 8.7 trillion yen ($55 billion) defense budget for 2025 as Japan accelerates building up its strike-back capability with long-range cruise missiles and starts deploying Tomahawks to fortify itself against growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia.”
This comes amid a rise of economic and political nationalism accompanied by anti-immigrant movements and growing racism in Japan, as in other imperialist countries like the U.S., Germany, Britain, and France.
China’s socialist revolution made a difference
China, however, had a socialist revolution in 1949. It put the majority of people — the workers and peasants — in charge. China had endured its own “century of humiliation” as a semi-colony of Great Britain, which began in 1839. Before the 1949 socialist victory, Japan had occupied parts of China, namely with the colonial puppet state of Manchuria. A U.S. Library of Congress source says that 20 million Chinese people were killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War between 1937 and 1945, making it one of the deadliest conflicts of WWII.
After so much death and destruction, the people of China would not fall into the same trap again. China’s revolution secured its sovereignty. Western powers, led by the U.S., have never forgiven China for its revolution. The U.S. has spent much of its military budget for decades trying to economically and militarily encircle China. But even with intensified aggression, starting under Obama and intensifying into Trump’s second term, China is not backing down, and is not bending to kiss Trump’s ring.
Significance of current trade talks
As a response to U.S. tariffs, China, Japan, and South Korea agreed to expand their economic cooperation by continuing to stabilize supply chains and maintain continuous dialogue on export controls.
Japan and South Korea are interested in importing raw materials for semiconductors, and China is interested in finished chip products in return.
To avoid drawing attention from the imperialists in Washington, both Japan and South Korea have downplayed the discussions.
But the joint statement speaks for itself:
“We noted with satisfaction the advancements made in trilateral cooperation between our three countries and held fruitful discussions on the future trajectory of our cooperation. We especially recognized the need for ongoing trilateral economic and trade cooperation to effectively address emerging challenges and achieve tangible outcomes in key areas.”
Though this is not a new trade agreement, an agreement to continue talks independently of the U.S. could be significant. It could signal that Washington’s ability to control the situation may be waning. Trade relations in themselves (even in defiance of U.S. efforts to isolate China) will likely not be enough to counteract Japan’s remilitarization and increasingly racist posture.
But in this current period, it may be a political accomplishment in itself for two nations aligned with U.S. imperialism to be in the same room as one that has proven to be its counterweight, discussing economic cooperation. Ultimately, though, it is people’s struggles, particularly in Japan and South Korea, that can fundamentally change the dynamics.
People’s Victory in South Korea
Days later, on April 4, 2025, President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted by the country’s Constitutional Court.
This was a result of a four-month-long struggle that followed President Yoon’s attempted declaration of martial law. Working-class forces, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), took to the streets demanding his removal.
Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, an organization of Koreans in the diaspora for reunification and national liberation, put it succinctly:
“The movement in the streets that brought down Yoon has always demanded far more than his removal. Yoon is simply one representative of South Korea’s ruling capitalist class, and this class itself is dependent on U.S. imperialism to remain in power.”
A special election for the presidency takes place in June. What this may mean for continued economic cooperation with China and Japan remains to be seen. But the South Korean people have shown that they have the power to topple U.S.-backed stooges. This is likely not comforting to the imperialist leaders in Washington and their Wall Street constituents.
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