Comment on "Japan still haunted by the idea of militarism" (China Daily, Dec 20)

I agree with everything the author, Tom Clifford, has said in his article. There is no doubt that "there are disturbing similarities" between the rise of Japanese militarism in the 1930s and recent developments. The world knows full well the disastrous consequences of Japan's militarism for China, Asia and the rest of the world, including Japan itself.

But there are three major differences between now and the 1930s, which the Japanese should reflect on.

First, China is no longer the weak, divided and virtually rudderless country it was in the 1930s. China today is a united and confident country that has overtaken Japan to become the second largest economy in the world.

Second, neither is the rest of Asia a collection of backward countries controlled by Western colonial powers. Instead, it is, generally speaking, a group of economically dynamic and mostly politically stable states.

Finally, Japan is no longer a politically dynamic society. Rather it is a country with the largest aging population in Asia that has failed to educate its youth on the tragedy Japanese militarists brought down on their own country in their bid to conquer the rest of Asia through war and torture. As the old English saying goes, those who fail to understand the lessons of their own history are destined to repeat them.

Ross Grainger, via e-mail

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(China Daily 01/09/2013 page9)