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Animosity in the East

Tensions flare between China and Japan

By Jehangir Pocha

Beijing—initially, observers blamed the ferocious anti-Japanese protests that erupted on April 9 on the confluence of four controversial issues—the new textbooks in Japan that allegedly gloss over its WW II atrocities, an oil-driven territorial dispute in the Senkaku islands, Japan’s restatement of military support for Taiwan and Tokyo’s bid for membership in the U.N. Security Council. “The coming together of… return to article

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    Hmph! As long as we’re facing up to history, perhaps China’s leaders can give the necessary orders to re-write their history textbooks to give account of, say, China’s behavior in Tibet. Perhaps representatives of the Uighur people of today could contribute a chapter. We might also get useful viewpoints from some who lived through the Great Leap Forward, in which enough people died to approximate the death toll of a world war (except there was no war, only mind-boggling levels of starvation due to economics-via-propaganda).

    Just goes to show that 4000 years of civilization does not necessarily result in 4000 years worth of advance toward enlightenment. Japan’s militarism was heinous (like it all is, no matter the country), but in the intervening decades they’ve made huge strides and become an example to other nations in the areas of improved quality of life for more of their citizens, disaster and humanitarian relief, brokering conflict resolution efforts, striving for a balance between technological civilizaton and environmental integrity, etc. China’s leaders wish their own record in the last 60 years was as good.

    Let the damn war end, already.

    Philippines Posted by Kuya on May 10, 2005 at 12:55 AM

    The Japanese massacre of the Chinese people during WWII has long been over. The Japanese government’s responbilities in admitting to these atrocities has not yet happened.

    “Let the damn war end, already”? Tell that to the Israelis and other Jews whose families died in Nazi death camps and see your response.

    Maintain the focus on Japanese responsibility over its actions in WWII. Subsequent histories in other parts of the world or in China bears no relevance to this subject. Bringing the Tibet history in this conversation is akin to discussing Japanese treatment for Okinawans or in its support of the Iraq war.

    Remember, Japan has committed the same atrocities to Koreans. These war crimes are vividly recalled by South Koreans living in a country where “they’ve made huge strides and become an example to other nations in the areas of improved quality of life for more of their citizens, disaster and humanitarian relief, brokering conflict resolution efforts, striving for a balance between technological civilizaton and environmental integrity, etc. “

    Even Representative Mike Honda in the US Congress admits that Japan should take the necessary “measure” to apologize for its war crimes.

    United States Posted by K on May 10, 2005 at 2:18 PM
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