SINGAPORE -- Southeast Asian countries view the recent Sino-Japanese and South Korean-Japanese feuds with interest and deep concern for possible impli- cations in four areas:
First, with the scars of World War II and prewar colonialism exposed in China and South Korea, memories of Japan's attempts to create a "sphere of prosperity" -- from Korea to Indonesia in the 1940s -- appear to be returning amid Tokyo's bid to secure a permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council.
Specifically, the crisis over Chinese and South Korean protests against new Japanese history textbooks -- which, critics say, whitewash or ignore Japanese atrocities -- is awakening long-dormant memories in Southeast Asians.