Japan/China relations

[Samwise]

I was reading some articles on the Internet and this is very disturbing. Chinese' anti-Japan protests are getting bigger and bigger and people are wrecking Japanese embassies and boycotting Japanese run stores. The Chinese government can't do much about it now that it's just too big. It's getting out of control. I think both countries have some major apologizing and understanding to do.

Japan - Before and during WWII, they conquered much of China and treated the inhabitants terribly, often torturing them. Nationalits are trying to cover up what they did by using new textbooks that white-wash Japanese mistreatment of Chinese. The Japanese prime-minister does not cease to worship at the Yasukuni Shrine that praises the Japanese army during WWII - including their misdeeds.

China - The communist government is not teaching it citizens the whole truth. Japan has gave quite a lot of financial support as a reconpence for what they did. Learn to forgive, I mean all this time Japan's been doing a lot of stuff for them to pay back for what they did and they're demanding more and more hiding the fact that Japan tried to reconpence with money and other medical aids, etc. They allowed the anti-demonstrations at first and let it get larger until they couldn't handle it.

I think Japan is ultimately wrong for its mistreatment.

I have to mention that the Chinese government wasn't the ones who wanted/started the demonstrations. Neither was it the older citizens - it was the students from universities and high schools.

I think the way to ease the tensions and end this between China and Japan is that the Japanese prime minister quit doing the Yasukuni Shrine worshipping and compensate for the victims of war. China needs to forgive, and make a China-Japan joint effort to create a better textbook, and negotiate about the desputed islands and terrotories.

So, what's your opinion? I sure would like to hear it.

I had to copy and paste because it was a subscribers only page. This is an article by Economist.com.

--------------------------------

China and Japan

The genie escapes
Apr 14th 2005 | BEIJING
From The Economist print edition

China's anti-Japan protesters are a big problem for both countries

“IT'S a scary country,” Japan's trade minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, said of China this week, following demonstrations in several Chinese cities by thousands of protesters, some of whom smashed the windows of Japanese shops and restaurants and threw stones at Japanese diplomatic buildings. For all their seeming reluctance to quell the unrest, Chinese leaders probably find it scary too.

The protests first turned violent in the south-western city of Chengdu on April 2nd, and erupted with particular fury in Beijing a week later. They were the biggest to take place in China since tens of thousands took to the streets across the country in 1999 in response to the bombing of China's Belgrade embassy by American aircraft during the Kosovo war. Those protests, initially condoned by the authorities, fizzled out after three or four days, when the government made it clear that enough was enough. This time the government appears more hesitant. Some Chinese activists predict further disturbances.

The big difference is that this time Japan is the target. In a country where public protest is usually quickly suppressed, anti-Japanese sentiment has proved hard for the authorities to handle. The 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.

The authorities' dilemma is reflected in their handling of these protests, which began as a show of opposition (on the grounds that Japan has failed to show sufficient contrition for its wartime atrocities) to Japan's campaign for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. They were fuelled by a decision by Japan's education ministry to approve a school textbook (unlikely to be widely adopted) that plays down the extent of the atrocities. Chinese officials expressed outrage at the book, but quietly banned coverage of the protests in the Chinese-language media. Calls for a boycott of Japanese goods, widely circulated on the internet, also went unreported in the state-controlled press.

In Beijing, the authorities mobilised thousands of police and paramilitary troops to guard the Japanese embassy and ambassador's residence, and to patrol the route of the march. Yet the security forces took no action as protesters threw stones and plastic water bottles at the diplomatic buildings and overturned a car. Activists say the protests were unauthorised. In China, this makes them illegal. Yet no arrests have been reported in connection with the Beijing protests. A foreign-ministry spokesman said that it was up to Japan to “reflect carefully” on how to prevent “the situation getting out of control”.

The burden of the past

Chinese officials are doubtless thinking carefully too. On April 13th, Japan said it would soon allow Japanese gas companies to explore in an area of the East China Sea claimed by both countries, a move that will further rile Chinese nationalists. And the year is replete with potential flashpoints: May 4th (the anniversary of the 1919 protests), July 7th (Japan's full-scale invasion of China in 1937); the 60th anniversary on August 15th of Japan's surrender and September 18th (the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in 1931).

So far, the business impact of the protests and boycott calls appears limited. But the products of some companies, such as Asahi, a beer manufacturer, and Ajinomoto, a food-maker, which have been accused by protesters of supporting the textbook revisions (the companies deny it), have been removed from some shops.

China's government worries that if it is seen as too weak towards Japan, or cracks down too hard, the protesters could turn against the party. In the last century, pro-democracy unrest in China was often closely linked with patriotic demonstrations. Many participants in the recent protests have been university students, a group kept under particularly close watch by the authorities since the student-led protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The internet and mobile phones have enabled rapid mobilisation (organisers say more than 20m people have signed an electronic petition against Japan's UN bid). The nationalist genie, once unbottled, could prove hard for China to restrain.

[Chandler]

Hmm... this is interesting.

[Me]

Sounds a lot like the storyline of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.

[Fenix]

There are always going to be countries that dont like each other. Here in north America Canadians dont like Americans. Its life for you. IF you go all around the world you'll notice that the countries that dont like each other the most have the most in common. Why is this case any different than Pakistan/India. I just dont think its that big of a deal.

[Jonathan]

There are always going to be countries that dont like each other.

True. However, things are worsening over there, and the US is following the situation. If I'm not mistaken, China (which is communist) has nuclear weapons, and North Korea could get involved and it could get messy. Sure, that's a worse case scenario, but this whole thing is worth noting.

-Jonathan

[Samwise]

Yeah but Canadians don't go around smashing American embassy windows and beating up Japanese in China... And besides America didn't "persecute" Canadians.

[Lucy Pevensie]

There are always going to be countries that dont like each other.

True. However, things are worsening over there, and the US is following the situation. If I'm not mistaken, China (which is communist) has nuclear weapons, and North Korea could get involved and it could get messy. Sure, that's a worse case scenario, but this whole thing is worth noting.

-Jonathan

I totally agree. And there's this one little thing that really freaks me out and scares me about the whole thing. I hope nothing bad happens!

[Jonathan]

I totally agree. And there's this one little thing that really freaks me out and scares me about the whole thing. I hope nothing bad happens!

And what's that one little thing?

-Jonathan

[Fenix]

To whomever addressed me.

Nuclear weapons will always be posessed by countries that are "bad" which the media portrays them to be. The people there also value human life just as much as we do, they arent going to drop a nuke just because they are mad. They are indeed rational people as well. After the fall of the Soviet Union it has been reported that hundreds of nuclear warheads have been unreported for. These nukes can be anywhere, the probability of their being a suitcase nuke within the United States should be more of a concern then a country with checks and balances(rational government) posessing a nuclear weapon. I am one million times more afraid of a sole individual with a negative view of my society pocessing a nuclear weapon then a legitamate country.


As for countries not liking each other, don't be so naive about this whole ordeal. Though countries may not like each other it takes a huge event for some country to go to war with another one. It just doesnt happen as much as you would think especially between rational governments, China and Japan have had negative relations forever. I cant even count the many times that Japan invaded China, its just something to do and have been doing (not recently). If you examine each countries trade schedule you'll notice that they are indeed reliant on each other. Its a love hate thing. Kinda like Canada and the US.

Sure there was injustice in the past but the truth must be heard! Its just like the Hallucaus, of course it will lead to some intial negative feelings towards an opposing view but its all apart of the healing progress. Education is the key tool when addressing persecution and misconceptions. Education will save the day. I should have said this a lot earlier but I ll say it now. The events that took place between the countries is no mystery, but by learning about our history can we make sure we dont repeat it, (this may sound a little cliche, but no one ever seems to remember this one and it leads to horrible things). When I was in school I learned a lot about the atrocities of WWII by the Germans, did it create a threatening attitude towards them? No it didnt! It educated me about the past, and under which pretenses the acts were commited on. If you didnt get what I am saying, all I'm saying is that you are looking into way to much, chillax. Everything is going to be ok. I hope that makes sense.

________________