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Rob_Hugo@PortNWI was reading up on some news today, and I saw an article about massive riots breaking out in China because Japan was bidding to have a seat in the UN Security Council. The riots were anti-Japanese and were fueled by Japanese war time actions. It was interesting to read that many of the Chinese police did little to contrain the protesters and rioters around the country--which could be because they themselves do not want to fight the protestors in fear of making it seem as though they are supporting Japanese actions. Many of the riots were based on a heated past Sino-Japanese relationship. The articles were keen to not include any specifics of the "atrocies" the Japanese had caused which shows how much these wartime events (i.e. the rape of Nanjing) ahve been downplayed throughout history...even in American historybooks. The Chinese riots are being forth the past and debasement of Japanese actions, which in many ways could spur more political objection and hinder Japan's inclusion into the UN Security Council.
links to read about topic:
New anti-Japanese protests erupt In China
Anonymousover the weekend I read in the tribune about the protest in China. The article also mentioned that it was probably also in light of Japan joining the UN security council. Hong Kong is also supposed to have an Anti-Japanese demonstration coming up. I support the chinese protest because I am of Chinese descent and believe that Japan's government should be doing something to acknowledge the actions it has taken in the past. I wonder how many other people feel that what China is doing is right. Or if they just think that China should just get over it already since its been about 50 years since the last incident. It would be great to witness Japan give, China and the other countries which faced atrocities due to Japanese infliction, apologies. However, I have noticed Japan's consistency in its past to overlook past actions and focus on the present so I doubt the protesters will ever acheive what they want. But maybe someday.. this will all change
Anonymoushmm i just read on yahooo that the prime minister of Japan has said sorry for its country's behavior half a century ago..although a professor critizied Japan for its apology because supposedly everytime Japan needs to clear relations with asian countries or as of right now needs a seat on the UN council. hmm.. i hope Japan is really serious about their apology not only to China but to Korea as well if they are going to apologize to Korea but yeah.. hopefully they will admit their wrong doing and the japanese parliment will also agree to a written apology and hopefully there isnt such a bias in japanese textbooks that hide what really happened in 1938.
AnonymousI was surprised by the riots in China against Japan for several reasons. First, this seemingly uncontrolled display of public anger seemed odd in such a controlled society as the People's Republic of China. This then led me to think that the government had allowed or even encouraged this, a scary thought since this was a highly provocative action against Japan.
I have since read that this in fact was probably the case. The Chinese government did this to stop Japan from getting a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. This would give them competition for power in Asia, especially problematic since Japan is a democracy and an ally of the U.S. Of course, they told their people that the issue was Japan's past abuses of Asian countries, and that a recent school textbook in Japan covered this up.
Now, the Japanese government has issued a public apology for Japan's wartime agression and abuses. It had issued less general apologies before, and has even paid reparations, for example $60 billion to Korea, not a small amount. I find it particularly odd that this concern over covering up abuses comes from the Chinese government, which is probably the greatest abuser of human rights in the world today, and does everything it can to conceal its actions from its own people and the rest of the world.
If the French can work with the Germans, and both of them can cooperate with the English, China and the present government of Japan should be able to work together too without dwelling on resentments about past problems that were not the fault of the current governments or the internationalized societies that they have today.
AnonymousThe riots going on in China are not surprising because they are nothing new. Ever since the May 4th Movement in 1919, mass riots and protests have been utilized by the Chinese to respond to issues such as foreign encroachments and government corruption. For example, when Zhou Enlai died in 1976, Beijing citizens ignored government warnings and poured into Tiananmen Square to mourn Zhou. As we all know, in 1989, Tiananmen Square was also the site of the most notorious Chinese protests to date. More recently in 1999, tens of thousands of Chinese protested the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. Similar to today’s riots, Chinese protesters took to the streets, defaced the U.S. Embassy, boycotted U.S. goods, and even vandalized U.S. restaurants such as McDonalds.
I don’t believe the Chinese government encourages the riots, but at the same time, they are hard pressed not to suppress them. Here’s why….
1.) In the past, when Chinese protesters gathered to protest and demonstrate patriotism, the protests easily turned into a demonstration against government policies. For example, the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests began as students expressed frustration over China’s poor economic situation and mourned the death of Communist official Hu Yaobang. However, the movement quickly shifted to anti-government corruption and pro-democracy stance. I think this is why the government this time around chose to censor news coverage of the anti-Japanese protests and boycotts.
2.) Japan and China run a billion dollar a year trade in goods. Japan’s largest trade partner is China! Both countries are heavily reliant on their economy so they both understand what’s at stake here.
3.) Here’s another good point from http://www.economist.com:
“In a country where public protest is usually quickly suppressed, anti-Japanese sentiment has proved hard for the authorities to handle. The ruling communist party bases its legitimacy in part on its (somewhat overstated) record of fighting Japanese occupation forces in the 1930s and 1940s. It traces its intellectual origins to a movement inspired by anti-Japanese protests in 1919. Animosity towards Japan is regarded as the hallmark of a patriot.”
Now I’m reading that…. Riots in China continue, anti-China protestors in Japan appear, China refuses to apologize for riots, Japan publicly apologizes for WWII atrocities but China believes it’s not good enough, and the list goes on…
This is more serious than I thought. BOTH countries are definitely in a pickle. I am interested in seeing how this thing plays out.
Oh yeah, the economist.com article can be read here: http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3883434
It’s really good
AnonymousEven though the Japanese leader has made a public apology for the holocaust that the Japanese started, did anyone ever think why the leader made this apology? maybe the Japanese leader was tryign to look good and what better time then the present when Japan is trying to secure a permenant spot on the U.N. security council. Also, it is noted that Japan has made acts of apologies in the past but these apologies were just sayings without any action such as re writting textbooks or paying for damages and these apologies are always made when Japan is trying to ___ for a lack of words look good in the public eye. I am weary to trust a country which has commited awful atrocities to not just China but many other Asian countries. The whole incident of Nanking started because Japan wanted control of the railroad in Manchuria ( which they had no right to in the first place) The Japanese pretened to have a fight with the Chinese by sacrificing their own soldiers and as a result declared war on China. Which eventually led to the Rape of Nanking. This Japanese intervention was not the first time, notice how it is usually referred to as the second sino-japanese war.
I am not saying China is perfect.. infecting millions of people with aids and not publicly acknowledging it is immoral. Enforcing a one child policy, polluting the world because they do not have health and safety regulations is bad. but..at the same time as Japan is rewritting their textbooks to describe what happened in 1937-1939 as a mere incident that down plays the death of at least 100,000 people within 3 days, and how samurais would throw chinese babies up into the air and see who could catch the most babies with their swords...how people were used in biological testing of germ warfare i believe.. denying that any of this happend is deceiving the youth of Japan.
This could be compared to back when Germany was still saying.. oo we didn't kill how many 6 million Jews.. blah blah.. or the same would be if children in america were never taught that christopher columbus the man who founded the new world.. with his three ships.. never massacred a bunch of native americans...or just how the turkish government, i believe denies, the armenian genocide... denying horrible atrocities "to save face" ( so the chinese saying goes)for a particular government leads to raising a generation that is ignorant of the history of its own people/world.
it is one thing for the Chinese government to forgive the Japanese government for not apologizing sooner but it is another thing to ask a population of what 1 billion chinese people to forget what happened to their ancestors/history.
and also I believe it was the Japanese leader that apologized publicly the Japanese parliament who denied a formal apology since the parliament believes that the statue of limitations over the nanking incident expired a long time ago.. therefore the Japanese parliament does not need to take actions in amending this long sensitive issue.
i probably have a bias in my thoughts because i am of chinese descent and was raised in a traditional chinese home where i was fortunate to have my father tell me about the chinese/asian perspective when it comes to issues regarding chinese history because from a western perspective it could be very different take for example the opium war..>.<
[Edit by="stran on Apr 30, 9:40:06 PM"][/Edit]
clay dubeAttached is a May 3, 2005 Kyodo News Service (Japanese news organization) article about Chinese history textbooks and the treatment of Chinese-Japanese history.
In Dec. 2004, NY Times reporter Howard French reported on how China's textbooks cover recent history. It's been posted at a pro-Tibet website:
http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?id=494
Time Magazine carried a similar story in April 2005:
http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/501050425/textbook.html
Last fall, Japan Focus published an essay on Chinese history education:
http://www.japanfocus.org/211.html[Edit by="Clay Dube on May 9, 2:06:01 PM"][/Edit]
clay dubeUCLA History Professor Fred Notehelfer was recently interviewed on the public radio program "To the Point" on teaching about World War II in Japan.
clay dubeFormer Singaporean PM Lee Kuan Yew recently visited China and encouraged officials and educators to teach children that as China's power increases it must avoid causing its neighbors undue anxiety.
Reported in The Star (Malaysia) on May 17, 2005.
"They have to be imbued with the right values and attitudes to meet China's doctrine of peaceful emergence,'' Lee said.
He said young people should be "acutely conscious that China ... has the responsibility and self-interest to assure its neighbors and the world at large that this emergence is benign and not a threat but a plus to the world.''
"It is vital that the younger generation of Chinese who have only lived through a period of peace and growth in China and have no experience of China's tumultuous past are made aware of the mistakes China made as a result of hubris and excesses in ideology,''
Lee said.
The Chinese news report of this talk omitted this part of Lee's talk:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-05/17/content_2967625.htm[Edit by="Clay Dube on May 21, 10:32:32 AM"][/Edit]
clay dubeMost Japanese feel that the Chinese government either encouraged or mishandled the recent anti-Japanese protests in China. They believe the Chinese government should apologize and pay compensation for damages suffered by Japanese individuals and firms.
See the May 18, 2005 Yomiuri Shimbun report:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20050518wo42.htm
[Edit by="Clay Dube on May 21, 10:38:07 AM"][/Edit]
AnonymousI continue to question why there isn't broader coverage of such important issues in the news. This not only pertains to Asia, but Africa as well. I was unaware of the riots that occurred in China. Understandably, there is no way to cover each event that happens in every city, country, or continent in the world. However, I feel that as Americans our media shelters (retains) us from important issues that take place on a global level. How can this be changed?
As an American I feel miseducated or underinformed about world issues, due to lack of exposure through high school and college classes. This is quite apparent when I speak to people from other countries. I am hopeful that being a part of the Institute will take away from my miseducation and give me a better sense of worldliness.