It's not inclusion if I have no influence

This example probably wasn’t what Muna Abdi was thinking of, but the quote helped me understand something I’ve been reading about.
In 1909, just before the Empire of Japan annexed Korea, they released Ahn Chang Ho from prison, provided that he "cooperate with the new Japanese governor in organizing a new cabinet." After an all-night deliberation, he and his colleagues "concluded that the Japanese were insincere in proposing the new cabinet; they would only become instruments of complete Japanese takeover." - from Willow Tree Shade, p31

⁠ It wasn't that the Korean patriots were uncooperative. Rather, they saw through the lies of the empire's "East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere." The Empire wasn't really interested in inclusion -- they wanted to co-opt Korean nationalism.