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Memories and Television Still Fuel Chinese Hatred For Japan
Posted in The Vance Report on 07/29/2008 09:30 am by Robert Vance
In the aftermath of the earthquake in Sichuan province, I wrote an article entitled Will the Earthquake Bring China and Japan Closer Together? In the post, I suggested that China’s acceptance of Japanese aid in Sichuan might well be a turning point in Sino-Japanese relations, which were already thawing. Since then, it does seem that relations have only grown warmer between the two Asian powers. There has been increased dialogue between Beijing and Tokyo since the earthquake and Prime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fukuda has said that he will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August. Late last month, UPI reported that “for the first time since the end of World War II, a Japanese warship docked in a Chinese port on June 24 and stayed there until June 28.” It would appear that China and Japan are slowly yet surely mending a badly damaged relationship that dates back to World War II.
From conversations with friends and students in China, it seems that the kind gestures made by Japan in the wake of the earthquake in Sichuan have also helped to change the way that the some Chinese people view their old nemesis.
“We appreciate what Japan has done for us,” one student told me recently. “Maybe they are not so bad after all.” This statement was made during a conversation class in which we were discussing the continued cleanup process taking place in Sichuan. Most of the other students nodded their heads in agreement and some were hopeful that perhaps some forgiveness for what happened in World War II could begin to take place provided of course that the Japanese government was ready to make the right conciliatory moves.
However, when I talk about Japan outside of the context of the earthquake in Sichuan, it is still clear that many hard feelings persist amongst my friends and students. Recently, on a short trip that I took into Central China, an aquaintance of mine reminded me of how bad “the Japanese really are.” We hate them, she explained to me, because of what they did to our people and our culture. She used her hometown as an example.
“We used to have many ancient spots to visit but now everything is new.” The Japanese came through her town and burned everything to the ground. Much history was lost in her hometown during World War II.
While such anger is understandable, it does seem at times that the rage against Japan is taken to an extreme. I have had many Chinese people tell me that they truly feel hatred for all Japanese people, not just the Japanese government. They tell me that if they encounter a Japanese person, they will ignore him because they do not want to make them feel welcome in their country. Interestingly enough, I have observed Chinese people interacting with Japanese people and usually I have found that the Chinese go out of their way to make those people feel welcome and comfortable.
So why is the rhetoric against Japanese people in China still so strong and pervasive? One of the reasons is simple. There are still too many people in China who remember what the Japanese did to China during World War II.
“Even today, if a Japanese person is spotted in Nanjing, people there will spit on him,” a friend told me recently. Nanjing, a city in Eastern China, is where the Nanking Massacre took place, a horrific event in which thousands of Chinese men, women, and children, were tortured and executed in a barbaric manner. But the atrocities were not limited to just Nanjing. Hundreds of thousands more Chinese people were killed throughout China during Japanese raids. Memories of these “Japanese Ghosts” still live on in the minds of older generation of China that witnessed these atrocities as well as the younger generation that has heard about them.
There is another reason, however, that Chinese people almost seem to automatically express their hate for the Japanese when the subject is broached. State controlled television in China has for many years now been showing programs that constantly remind the Chinese of the horrors perpetrated upon them by the Japanese. According to some of my Chinese friends, the television channels in China are full of programs and movies that allow the Chinese to at least partly relive the Japanese incursion into China. I have had a chance to watch a few of these programs, and I am always shocked by their graphic nature. Brutal rape, torture, and murder are often depicted all too realistically on Chinese television.
What makes these programs and movies so powerful is the fact that men and women, young and old in China spend hours watching them. Many Chinese people that I know are absolutely enthralled by these programs. Wherever I have lived in China, I have observed that the television is usually the most important household item. It is what connects the people in the world’s largest country; it is also what feeds people their daily dose of news and reality. People in China do take very seriously what they watch on television, especially as it relates to their history and culture. It is no wonder then that with all of these TV programs on Chinese television, that so many Chinese people wake up everyday hating Japan.
“Sometimes I want to forget about what happened in Japan but it is impossible,” a young friend admitted to me sometime ago. “If I say that I want to forget, my mom, my dad, my grandpas, and uncles and aunts will condemn me. They will not let me forget what happened.” Such a statement defines well the hatred that the Chinese have towards the Japanese; it is a collective hatred based on a history that is constantly made fresh in the minds of the Chinese people. Is it a justified hatred? Hating history is one thing but transferring that hate on a new generation of Japanese people who have done nothing against China is quite another. Yes, it is time for the Japanese government to be more sincere in its apology to the Chinese People for what happened during World War II; but it is also time for the Chinese people to reach out to the Japanese people and try to look ahead and not always backwards.
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07/30/2008 at 2:56 am
Nice article.
Living in Kunming since 2003, I’ve been the same types of reactions to Japanese among the locals here. Being an American, I’m always asked the same question - “Why don’t you hate the Japanese, too? They attacked your country!” It’s always a difficult question to answer properly, as in reality they are only looking for one answer.
I’ve spoken to friends who live in Taiwan who paint a much different picture - very rarely are the Japanese depicted in a bad way, and in fact the locals there very much admire the Japanese for their support after 1949, despite a lengthy colonial period under them.
It’s really chalked up to good-old-fashioned distraction. An inordinate amount of programming here consists of “history dramas” in which the Japanese are portrayed as soulless beings, out to destroy the great Chinese nation. Textbooks concentrate on things such as Nanjing and so on. The Chinese I know personally condemn them for not “owing up to their history” while the same thing happens here where things such as the Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolution are barely mentioned.
I’ve always mentioned this to my Chinese friends and say the first step is to admit your own faults and mistakes before blaming others. Looking forward is an important step to reconciliation.
07/30/2008 at 2:52 pm
Tim:
I’ve always mentioned this to my Chinese friends and say the first step is to admit your own faults and mistakes before blaming others. Looking forward is an important step to reconciliation.
Yugung:
I can’t understand the logic.
Chinese must first comdemn the CR and and Greatleap forward before the earn the right to condemn the Japanese atrocity during ww2. If they fail to do so then they deserve what they had during WW2.
If your father abuse u then, u deserve to get robbed. If u don’t beat up ur father first u can’t complain about the robbers.
When I look at the profile of the China bashers and the way they go about supporting WHATEVER that is bad for China I come to the conclusion that these people are simply racists. They always have the nice excuse that they are only against the CCP.
Aren’t the Koreans equally angry with the Japanese?
Chinese anger = always blame others = irrational nationalism……eventaully Tibet and Dafur will all be brought in ….. then u ask why r chinese so prone u use the “F” word on Americans?
07/30/2008 at 3:08 pm
Yugung,
If you make assumptions based on my post, that’s your own fault. I never said the Chinese have no right to condemn the Japanese atrocities during WW2. I said acting as a mature, responsible person you should first look to improve your own lot before condemning others for past crimes. There are still crimes committed against your own people in this country today and no one bats an eyelid. Yet any Chinese person can instantaneously hark back to WW2 and hurl invective at the Japanese, Americans, etc.
It’s interesting you could look at my nonexistent profile on this website and make an automatic judgment about my character, race, etc. Do you assume that because I’m American I’m automatically white, or “non-Chinese?” Just who is the racist here, Yugung? As a foreign resident of China for five years, clearly I adore the country and it’s people, but I’m also grown up to admit and confront nonsense when I see it. Ignorant Chinese like to fall back on the race issue when they’ve run out of logical arguments, as if using racism is somehow an excuse for not answering a question or responding to an argument in a mature manner.
You DO have irrational nationalism, and there are certain people in modern society that have knee-jerk reactions to any slight against China, or the Chinese government due to your lot in life or what have you. The protests against Carrefour and France are just one example of this nonsense. An absolute irrational, harmful protest against your own working people, a boycott of a shop that sells 95% Chinese goods in China, and violence instigated towards foreigners living in China.
I never mentioned Tibet and Darfur because they are non-issues. It’s not related to Robert’s post even in the slightest. If you bring it up, clearly you understand there is something more to those issues than what we see in China. But I digress…
The Koreans, as you mentioned, are equally angry with the Japanese, as they well should be. They suffered under Japanese colonialism far longer than the Chinese, and as a result had their country torn apart. Truly a sad state of affairs. However, does it make the Chinese right? Again, you point the fingers towards someone else to justify Chinese behavior. When you see the Koreans on television protesting for anything they possibly can, be it US military bases which have helped protect their country for half a century, or imported beef, or the Dokdo Island pile of rocks, clearly there are social issues in Korea that need to be addressed. However, does that make it okay for the Chinese to behave in a way in which they currently do with regards to the Japanese, Americans, etc.?
I’m not sure about where you live in China, but here in Kunming the locals like Americans. If you’re familiar with your country’s history, as I’m sure you are, you might know about a small group of men called the Flying Tigers. If not, look them up. Interesting reading, to say the least. If Chinese are so prone to using the “f” word on Americans, as you say, it just proves my point.
I’ll reiterate my previous statement - until the Chinese can face all the issues in recent history, including WW2, civil war, disastrous communist policies, the CR, Tiananmen, etc. with honesty and clarity, you look like a nation of hypocrites for damning others for not doing so.
07/30/2008 at 3:21 pm
Tim:
I’ve spoken to friends who live in Taiwan who paint a much different picture - very rarely are the Japanese depicted in a bad way, and in fact the locals there very much admire the Japanese for their support after 1949, despite a lengthy colonial period under them.
yugung:
It all depends who u talked to.
The people most angry with the Japanese are the Taiwan Aboriginals. They were almost wipe out by the Japanese. They made numerous noisy protests but international media seldom give them any coverage. There are still some elderly surviving comfort women. The Japanese refuse to compensate them or apologized to them. Since they are Chinese Taiwanese perhaps u can linked them to Tibet and Dafur and therefore deserve what they got.
There is a small group of people in Taiwan whose love for the Japanse Fascist is quite embarassing even to the Americans. They support every thing that the Japanese did during the war including Pearl Harbor, use of comfort women etc. Though small in number they are influencial within in the Taiwan separatist movement. Most likely ur Taiwan friends belong to this group.
07/30/2008 at 3:46 pm
Tim said this :
If you make assumptions based on my post, that’s your own fault. I never said the Chinese have no right to condemn the Japanese atrocities during WW2. I said acting as a mature, responsible person you should first look to improve your own lot before condemning others for past crimes.
yugung:
Ther you go again.
07/30/2008 at 4:03 pm
Yugung,
No one here, not Robert in his article nor I, accept Japanese atrocities. We all believe they were horrible things that should have never happened. I’m still not quite sure how this point isn’t getting across. Issues such as murder, “comfort women” and so on are terrible, and I think it’s agreed that everyone would like some compensation to be made. We have a similar problem here in America with Black Americans wanting reparations for past crimes of slavery - and the issue has been debated for decades. The question is, how would one go about it? Is money the solution to all the murder and hatred perpetrated by the Japanese military in WW2? It’s not a black and white issue, to say the least - the fact that the Imperial Government fell apart at the end of WW2 and a new government was put in place makes things even more difficult. It would be like asking the CCP to pay for crimes committed by the Guo Min Dang during their reign of power before 1949. It’s a very, very complex issue.
Again, you hark back to Tibet and Darfur. I never mentioned either of these in my original post. Where are you bringing in these topics from?
I would say anyone who would support the Japanese Imperial government during WW2 would be embarrassing. But I’ve never heard of people actually supporting the atrocities they committed, such as Nanjing or the attack on Pearl Harbor, or even those on Guam, Midway Islands, etc. during the Pacific War. Are you making this up or have you seen this for yourself?
But thank you again for insulting either myself as a “racist” or my friends in Taiwan as “fascists.”
07/30/2008 at 4:05 pm
Tim:
You DO have irrational nationalism, and there are certain people in modern society that have knee-jerk reactions to any slight against China, or the Chinese government due to your lot in life or what have you. The protests against Carrefour and France are just one example of this nonsense. An absolute irrational, harmful protest against your own working people, a boycott of a shop that sells 95% Chinese goods in China, and violence instigated towards foreigners living in China.
yugung:
The Olympic protest in France was not “slight against China” and u know what they say? The Paris protest was not against Chinese people; it was against the CCP.
The Chinese people therefore feel the need to answer that. We ARE offended! Sarkozy go to hell. Carrefour was picked because one of its major share holder is a Dalai Lama supporter. The protest did not do a lot of damage and the message got through.
07/30/2008 at 4:49 pm
Tim said:
The question is, how would one go about it? Is money the solution to all the murder and hatred perpetrated by the Japanese military in WW2? It’s not a black and white issue, to say the least - the fact that the Imperial Government fell apart at the end of WW2 and a new government was put in place makes things even more difficult. It would be like asking the CCP to pay for crimes committed by the Guo Min Dang during their reign of power before 1949. It’s a very, very complex issue.
Yugung:
Generally speaking (not refering to u in particular) Americans are not interested in Japanese atrocity in China. If I press them hard enough they will pay lip service.
They are more interested in using Japan to contain China and therefore more eager to label Chinese anger as “irrational nationalism promoted by CCP”.
The current Japanese ruling elite with some exceptions, are very much the same families that ruled Japan during the war. Not only there refuse to compensate unconditionally, they also refuse to apologize and most annoying of all they keep amending their history books to the extend that Japanese teachers also protested and the right wing Yakuza has beaten up quite a number of them.
07/30/2008 at 4:53 pm
Tim:
I would say anyone who would support the Japanese Imperial government during WW2 would be embarrassing. But I’ve never heard of people actually supporting the atrocities they committed, such as Nanjing or the attack on Pearl Harbor, or even those on Guam, Midway Islands, etc. during the Pacific War. Are you making this up or have you seen this for yourself?
But thank you again for insulting either myself as a “racist” or my friends in Taiwan as “fascists.”
Yugung:
The behavior of some pro-Japan Taiwanese amazes me. I don’t blame u for not believing. Talk to more people and find the answer urself.
07/31/2008 at 5:01 pm
Ha, Americans don’t hate the Japanese because we got them back. Got them back so good, that 65 years later they’re still pacifists.
Here’s one for you: ask a Chinese person who won WWII. They’ll perk up and instantly say, “China!”. Then, you ask them how China won, exactly. How many victories they racked up. My favorite is to ask how many aircraft carriers the Chinese sunk. This leads them to the idea that the Western Allies defeated Japan by sinking its navy and invading its island posessions, thus threatening the Japanese homeland. This uncomfortable idea is usually rejected outright, but you can have a lot of fun with it until they get angry and walk away from the conversation.
07/31/2008 at 6:05 pm
“State controlled television in China has for many years now been showing programs that constantly remind the Chinese of the horrors perpetrated upon them by the Japanese. According to some of my Chinese friends, the television channels in China are full of programs and movies that allow the Chinese to at least partly relive the Japanese incursion into China.”
@Robert,
That’s not the real truth. It’s normal to tell the truth. I have so many documentary made by US and other western countries about the atrocity crime committed by Nazi, Do you think that’s for increasing the hate against German? No, That’s for telling the truth, for the people to remember the truth. How many channels you watch everyday in China? You told just see a few.
You are always trying to pick up some hearing and some imagination to make your conclusion.
Do you really understand Chinese culture? Do you really know the government’s attitude toward Sino-Japanese Relationship?
If you really want to understand China, please study Chinese and then read more histories and books and to understand the traditional culture, which is really rooted in the heart of Chinese. Some behavior of Chinese government are reflected to such kind of culture if you really understood the culture.
Please don’t always use some chinese’s comments as a prove to represent all of the Chinese. Please don’t use your rumor as a proof such as “still someone spitting on Japanese in Nanjing”.
I wish you guy in China is helping the foreigners to understand Chinese culture and Chinese instead of further distorting Chinese.
Below is in Chinese, the heilongjiang province built the tombs for Japanese civilians after WWII, even Japanese appreciated this:
http://japan.people.com.cn/35467/35498/6282144.html (tombs for Japanese civilians created by Chinese government, )
Although Chinese hated Japanese soldiers during the war, but after the war in 1945, they used their generocity to bring up Japanese orphanages, Why? because it’s rooted in the Chinese culture. But those people tried to return back, they were discriminated by Japan. Why? I could not answer. Do you?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_orphans_in_China (Japanese Orphan)
Japanese ‘war orphans’ sue:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3135110.stm
Story in English
http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e2005/e200507/p21.htm
From this one, you could see government’s attitude toward the relationship: (not like you observed)
http://english.hanban.edu.cn/english/2002/Sep/42287.htm
Wish you able to read the following articles in Chinese:
http://japan.people.com.cn/35467/35495/5818615.html
http://japan.people.com.cn/35467/42979/85206/
http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ce/cejp/chn/zt/qqq112/t202306.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/focus/2004-08/29/content_1898278_1.htm
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_49a08a77010007k3.html
http://news.sohu.com/20070921/n252278284.shtml
http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=4499443
07/31/2008 at 6:08 pm
Yugung said,
Carrefour was picked because one of its major share holder is a Dalai Lama supporter. The protest did not do a lot of damage and the message got through.
Robert rephrasing what Yugung wrote,
Carrefour was picked because a rumour was started that one of its major share holders is a Dalai Lama supporter. The protest prevented Chinese nationals from going to work and it was a waste of time because in the end, people realized that they were protesting about nothing.
Robert in his own words:
My Chinese friend’s faces STILL turn red when I talk to them about that Carrefour boycott. The Chinese people who participated are truly embarassed and some have admitted to me that it was just a way to “vent their anger.” Friends of mine who did not participate tell me that it “was a shame.” And yes, a message did get through to the world. Chinese people will protest on a whim and wreak havoc on international companies that are doing nothing but contributing to China’s economy.
You speak for yourself Yugung when it comes to the Carrefour boycott. I can promise you that you do NOT speak for the Chinese people.
07/31/2008 at 6:42 pm
Jason said,
That’s not the real truth. It’s normal to tell the truth. I have so many documentary made by US and other western countries about the atrocity crime committed by Nazi, Do you think that’s for increasing the hate against German? No, That’s for telling the truth, for the people to remember the truth. How many channels you watch everyday in China? You told just see a few.
You are always trying to pick up some hearing and some imagination to make your conclusion.
Robert says:
Have you ever been to America? Have you ever watched public American television? (I’m not talking about PBS, I’m talking about non-cable channels and networks). It’s one thing for American filmakers to make documentaries and movies on the Nazis but it would be quite another to be flooding the airwaves with them. Go ahead and deny it but CCTV channels (which is what everyone gets in China) have been full of these programs for many years regarding the Japanese invasion into China. They are not just documentaries recounting the facts. They are powerful stories that pull at the heart strings. They graphically depict what happened. I was watching one the other night with some friends and I can completely understand why Chinese people still hate the Japanese. And children grow up watching these programs so they are programmed to hate. Considering the graphic nature of these programs, I find it sad that kids are allowed to watch…
Don’t try to deny it; no one that I talk to here denies it. The television channels are full of programs that make these memories fresh in people’s minds. I’m not saying that it’s wrong to remember a tragic time in history but in China, this tragedy is replayed on China’s state owned media to the extreme. If you deny that, you are living in a fantasy world.
07/31/2008 at 10:40 pm
RV:
You speak for yourself Yugung when it comes to the Carrefour boycott. I can promise you that you do NOT speak for the Chinese people.
Yugung:
So you think u know more about Chinese sentiment.
None of my friend regretted boycotting the Carrefour.
A sina.com poll showed that 80% of those polled are angry with sarkozy and do not welcome him to Beijing.
07/31/2008 at 10:47 pm
RV:
Don’t try to deny it; no one that I talk to here denies it. The television channels are full of programs that make these memories fresh in people’s minds. I’m not saying that it’s wrong to remember a tragic time in history but in China, this tragedy is replayed on China’s state owned media to the extreme. If you deny that, you are living in a fantasy world.
Yugung:
There was a lot of these movies when Kozumi was in power. Much less now when Fukuda came to power. I don’t actually have any statistics, just my impression.
07/31/2008 at 10:58 pm
When you boycotted Carrefour you harmed no one in France. No one. Why is that? There are Carrefour chains all over the world. Not only China. Imagine that!
The only thing that happened was that Chinese factories producing goods in China for the Chinese market with Chinese labor suffered for a short period. So your boycott went nowhere. A total waste of time over an absolutely false claim that people in Carrefour donated funds to the Dalai Lama. I know it sounds shocking, but this is what happens in free countries. People can do as they please, and you’re absolutely free to disagree with their points and issues. That’s the nature of free speech, and it’s something we hold dear to us.
China will never be treated differently. People criticize the United States all the time, and usually we let it roll of our backs and pay little, if any attention. Criticism is part and parcel to being a world power, as China certainly is in the economic sphere. I would suggest getting used to it, and not taking it so personally.
Indeed, Yugung, I’m sure you could tell me about dozens of your friends that participated and supported the boycott. I’m quite sure we could find just as many of our Chinese friends that felt it was an embarrassing out lash of immature behavior brought on by ultra-nationalist Chinese young people.
Also, to cut you off at the pass, I didn’t support the protests in America at the Olympic flame relays. I felt it was embarrassing and don’t support this type of protest in any way. Considering you brought up Tibet and Darfur out of the blue in our earlier posts, I thought I’d mention it before you inevitably would.
07/31/2008 at 11:08 pm
Yugung said,
A sina.com poll showed that 80% of those polled are angry with sarkozy and do not welcome him to Beijing
Robert says:
You don’t have to prove to me that the French are not popular in China at the moment. I have heard of French people being beaten up and hassled in China recently although who knows the real story.
I don’t really see how Sarkosky relates to Carrefour. Of course he is unpopular because 1). his government refused to supress the Tibet protesters in Paris (in most countries it is legal to protest) and 2). he talked about boycotting the Olympic Ceremonies. If I were him, I wouldn’t go simply because it is too dangerous.
Carrefour on the other hand IS popular. I went shopping tonight and as usual there were tons of Chinese people there even as it was getting ready to close. The point is, Chinese people vented their anger on an innocent company that employs hundreds of Chinese people and helps to stimulate the local economy. What a waste of time and energy.
07/31/2008 at 11:39 pm
@Roebert,
Chinese people hated the Japanese soldiers in WWII, do you think it’s wrong?
You just know 1 channel of CCTV, and do you how many channels in CCTV and do you know how many channels totally that Chinese people could watch?
Do you know how the daily programme of CCTV is arranged?
We here have some films about Anti-Japanese War, do you think it should be stopped? But I have seen lots of US film about World War II, recently we knew “Tora Tora” “Pearl Harbor”, “Midway”, so many films, why not you don’t blame US?
In Europe, people still memorial for those killed by Nazi. Do you think these action also try to fuel the hatred against German?
I have told you that I have been to US for many times. I could see that films about WW2. That’s normal films. Please Don’t mention to me there is no WWII films in US.
It would be a shame that Chinese people didn’t know his history about Anti-Japanese war. To hate the Japanese Soldiers’s crime committed in World War 2 is 100% correct. Chinese government never tried to fuel the hate against Japanese people. We have been told from very young in the school that Japanese people themselves were victims too because of the Japanese warrior government. We have been told that 100,000 Japanese civilians were the victims fo atom bomb due to World war 2. Does that make it clear that Chinese government wants us to know to appreciate the peace and work hard on bringing peace to the world.
You just use narrow observation to make the conclusion that Chinese government fuel the hatred.
08/01/2008 at 9:16 am
Tim:
When you boycotted Carrefour you harmed no one in France. No one. Why is that? There are Carrefour chains all over the world. Not only China. Imagine that!
Yugung:
China is the fastest growing segment of the Carrefour group. It is a target that every ordinary Chinese can participate. A common western propaganda theme is that the Olympic protest is targeting only the CCP and that the common Chinese couldn’t careless. We will show u what the common people think.
Tim:
The only thing that happened was that Chinese factories producing goods in China for the Chinese market with Chinese labor suffered for a short period. So your boycott went nowhere. A total waste of time
Yugung:
Really?
It has become a fashion in some corporate circle in the west to back the Dalai Lama.
Apple put the Dalai Lama on their advertisement (later withdrawn). Sharon Stone was withdrawn from Christian Dior advertisement.
For too long bashing China is a safe bet in getting media attention. Now they ve to pay a price. If they feel strong enough; sure go ahead pay the price and do it.
Chinese people are willing to take pain to drive the message across.
Tim:
People can do as they please, and you’re absolutely free to disagree with their points and issues. That’s the nature of free speech, and it’s something we hold dear to us.
Yugung:
This has to be balanced by freedom to boycott people and corporations that we find offensive. Nobody can force Sarkozy to come to Beijing and likewise, nobody can force Chinese to love him. If he thinks coming to Beijing to doing Chinese an honor he is deluding himself.
08/01/2008 at 9:24 am
Jason said,
We here have some films about Anti-Japanese War, do you think it should be stopped? But I have seen lots of US film about World War II, recently we knew “Tora Tora” “Pearl Harbor”, “Midway”, so many films, why not you don’t blame US?
In Europe, people still memorial for those killed by Nazi. Do you think these action also try to fuel the hatred against German?
I have told you that I have been to US for many times. I could see that films about WW2. That’s normal films. Please Don’t mention to me there is no WWII films in US.
Robert says:
1). There is a huge difference between watching a two hour movie on World War ii and watching graphic television series after television series on what the Japanese did to China. Don’t you understand the difference? It is not just memorializing that takes place in China; there is an unholy obsession about Japan.
2). When did I say that “there are no World War ii films in the US?” You are putting words in my mouth once again.
Jason says:
It would be a shame that Chinese people didn’t know his history about Anti-Japanese war. To hate the Japanese Soldiers’s crime committed in World War 2 is 100% correct. Chinese government never tried to fuel the hate against Japanese people. We have been told from very young in the school that Japanese people themselves were victims too because of the Japanese warrior government. We have been told that 100,000 Japanese civilians were the victims fo atom bomb due to World war 2. Does that make it clear that Chinese government wants us to know to appreciate the peace and work hard on bringing peace to the world.
You just use narrow observation to make the conclusion that Chinese government fuel the hatred.
Robert says:
You are once again mischaracterizing the TRUE feelings of people here in China. Of course it is ok to hate the Japanese soldier’s crimes but people here hate the Japanese people! And they are not bashful about saying so! Just the other day I had a student tell me that he “would shake hands with a Japanese man if he had to but that would be it because he would feel too uncomfortable spending any time with him.” Wake up! I have spent hours talking with people across China about Japan and it is clear that most do NOT like Japanese people, even today!
And yes, Chinese people have a right to be told the truth about what happened when the Japanese invaded. But it pounded into their heads day in and day out on television. I will repeat what I wrote before; it’s an obsession!
08/01/2008 at 9:41 am
RV:
Of course he is unpopular because 1). his government refused to supress the Tibet protesters in Paris (in most countries it is legal to protest) and 2). he talked about boycotting the Olympic Ceremonies. If I were him, I wouldn’t go simply because it is too dangerous.
Yugung:
Since Sarkozy is such a hero that he allowed the protesters to piss on the Olympic flame and threaten to boycott the Olympic opening ceremony we should let him finish is mission, right? How can a hero shine with out taking any pain? So we are really doing him a favor. Let him complete his heroic task and boycott the Olympic opening ceremony.
RV:
Carrefour on the other hand IS popular. I went shopping tonight and as usual there were tons of Chinese people there even as it was getting ready to close. The point is, Chinese people vented their anger on an innocent company that employs hundreds of Chinese people and helps to stimulate the local economy. What a waste of time and energy.
Yugung:
The message got across
The boycott is over now.
08/01/2008 at 6:13 pm
Robert says:
“1). There is a huge difference between watching a two hour movie on World War ii and watching graphic television series after television series on what the Japanese did to China. Don’t you understand the difference? It is not just memorializing that takes place in China; there is an unholy obsession about Japan.”
Jason Says:
Have you real watched the chinese series totally? I would tell most of them are telling about how brave the Chinese soldiers to fight agaisnt Japaneses instead of telling how cruelty that Japanese soldiers dealt with Chineses. In the film, there were some sceneary about this, but it’s not main topic. Please enumerate one series that all talking about the cruelties. I could tell except documentary, you could not find.
Actually how many people have you talked about? 1million or 10 million? Why don’t you ask the attitude of the government? Here is the government’s comment from this webpage.
http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e2005/e200507/p21.htm
Using History as the Mirror and Looking into the Future
Wang Xuan (center front) on a rally with Chinese and Japanese people in Tokyo, calling upon the Japanese government to acknowledge the truth of history.
Within Chinese culture, harmony is valued above all else. As the Chinese saying goes, “Harmony brings benefit to both sides while dispute brings harm.” This is a sound principle on which to guide Sino-Japanese relations. Normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations in 1972 has indeed brought benefit to both countries. In 2004, bilateral trade approached US $170 billion, and there were more than 4 million visits between the two countries.
In a meeting with the visiting Kyodo News president Toyohiko Yamanouchi in April 2005, Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan pointed out that the war of aggression launched by Japanese militarists made countless Chinese people suffer, but that Japanese people were also victims of that war. For many years the Chinese government has educated its people in this spirit. Carrying forward Sino-Japanese friendship from generation to generation is the greatest desire of the Chinese government and the Chinese people. ”
The Chinese expressed to you about their attitude toward Japanese is mostly result from the attitude of Japanese who can not accept the history fact and tried to revise them. Actually before you understand Chinese culture, you will not understand what’s the real meaning when Chinese express their anger. You will regard this as Hatred. And you’d like to link this to our government. This is your traditional thinking mode. So i told you please put off your colored glass.
Although you have been staying China for several years, you still didn’t know Chinese and Chinese government.
08/01/2008 at 6:18 pm
“2). When did I say that “there are no World War ii films in the US?” You are putting words in my mouth once again. ”
@Robert,
Please check my words carefully, did I put those words into your mouth?
I use this to compare that both US and China, and also the rest of the world did the same thing. That is to let all of people to remember the World War II and make the world to be the peaceful world.
But you want to criticize our government “to fuel the hatred”. You understand what I mean?