In 1929, the U.S. Navy sent a group of intelligence officers to Japan for three years to study the Japanese language, a move that, in retrospect, was prescient.
Two of the officers, fluent in Japanese, would play key roles at a crucial juncture in World War II: They partially deciphered Japanese military codes, providing advance warning to Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Navy’s Pacific command, of the Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, which resulted in an American victory in the Battle of Midway and marked a turning point in the war.
Moral of the story: knowing a country’s language is fundamental to compete with it, and it’s much easier to learn it if you live there and hear and speak the language all the time.
This lesson remains true today. Our current competitor is China — hopefully not on the battlefield, but certainly in technology, economics, and diplomacy. This lesson is especially true because, unfortunately, the Chinese seem to have learned this lesson better than we have.
There are just 800 Americans studying in China, up slightly from 500 during the pandemic but down from a peak of about 15,000 in the 2011-12 school year. There are 300,000 Chinese studying in the United States.
Of course, many Americans study Chinese at U.S. universities, but to master and retain the language perfectly, you need to use it every day — and that means spending time in China.
Study abroad and other people-to-people exchange programs are often touted as promoting mutual understanding and averting war — the theory goes that getting to know some people personally makes it harder to demonize others.
Learning a foreign language and culture is a great advantage when competing with other nations, militarily and otherwise.
What the US Navy did in 1929 was something militaries around the world had been doing for a long time. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor, had studied at Harvard and worked at the Japanese Embassy in Washington. His plan for the surprise attack was based on his knowledge of America.
Yamamoto believed Japan’s only hope was a knockout punch: in the long run, American industrial might would prevail.
Some historians consider the attack on Pearl Harbor a tactical victory but a strategic blunder, but it could also have been Japan’s greatest opportunity. If American aircraft carriers had been at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Yamamoto Isoroku’s plan might have succeeded. By the time the U.S. Navy was rebuilt, Japan might have been able to occupy Australia, Midway, and even parts of Hawaii and Alaska.
Our generals, admirals, and intelligence chiefs are almost certain to recognize the need for China experts — and have no doubt been training them themselves, as the U.S. Navy did in 1929 — but we may well need more.
And the competition between the two countries isn’t just military (though it’s not even the main one right now): The United States needs more Chinese talent in a wide range of fields, from business to agriculture, journalism to academia.
And then there’s science: China has become a scientific research powerhouse, with many of its scientists publishing in Chinese, creating an ever-increasing demand for scientifically educated Americans who can read Chinese.
Software translation programs are no substitute for fluent humans. Machines can translate words, but learning a country’s language means learning its culture. A deep understanding of the country is important.
It’s important that more Americans study in China, but persuading them to go there may not be easy.
First, China’s “exit bans” prevent some foreign nationals from leaving China, and the US State Department is now urging US citizens to “reconsider travel to mainland China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including exit bans, and unjust detention.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said he wants to accept 50,000 American students over the next five years. To make this happen, China will have to guarantee Americans the freedom to travel abroad.
Another hurdle is that some U.S. companies are retreating from China, and young Americans considering careers doing business with China may worry that their opportunities will shrink in the coming years.
Additionally, there is the unfortunate reality that Chinese propaganda purveyors are working overtime to influence American politics. Most of the Chinese-backed Confucius Institutes on American college campuses were closed after Washington questioned what they were teaching beyond language. Studying in China could face the same suspicions.
Yes, there are tensions between the US and China, but that’s why more Americans should learn Mandarin. The ancient Chinese warlord Sun Tzu said it best: “Know your enemy,” he advised.
Urban Lehner, former Asia correspondent and editor of The Wall Street Journal, is editor emeritus of DTN/The Progressive Farmer.
This article was first published by the latter news organization on June 3 and is now republished with permission by Asia Times. ©Copyright 2024 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All Rights Reserved. Follow Urban Lehner upon X @urbanize
