As if there weren’t enough negative articles about China this week, Human Rights Watch has released a devastating report on China’s organized persecution of the Uygurs in Xinjiang province.

China has stepped up a campaign of religious persecution against its minority Uighur population in the western region of Xinjiang even though the government has already eliminated any organized resistance to Beijing’s rule there, two leading human rights groups said in a joint report to be released Tuesday.

The groups, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights in China, quoted secret Communist Party and government documents as detailing a range of new policies that tighten controls on religious worship, assembly and artistic expression among Xinjiang’s eight million Turkic-speaking Muslims, including strict rules on teaching religion to minors.

China adopted some of the measures, the groups said, after it persuaded the Bush administration that a little known Uighur exile group, the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, was responsible for terrorist acts and belonged on America’s list of leading terrorist threats. The groups said China has used isolated terrorist acts to justify a wholesale crackdown on its Uighur Muslim population.

“China is using the suppression of religion as a whip over Uighurs who challenge or even chafe at Chinese rule of Xinjiang,” Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “In other parts of China, individuals have a little more space to worship as they choose. But Uighur Muslims are facing state-ordered discrimination and crackdowns.”

What a shame. There was some important news out about China’s groundbreaking outreach to India, but it’s been totally eclipsed by the steady stream of negative stories.

It’s like one of those ancient, never-ending feuds, like Capulet and Montague, or the Hatfields and the McCoys.

China raised the stakes of its increasingly bitter dispute with Japan on Monday by saying that Japan itself was to blame for anti-Japanese violence that flared across China over the weekend.

Japan’s foreign minister, Nobutaka Machimura, demanded compensation and an apology from the Chinese government for the destruction of Japanese-owned property by thousands of sometimes rowdy demonstrators on Saturday and Sunday.

But in response to the demand, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry stressed that Japan should expect no apology.

“It’s not China that bears the blame for letting Sino-Japanese relations come to this pass,” said Qin Gang, the spokesman.

“Japan must conscientiously and appropriately deal with its history of invading China – a major issue of principle involving the feelings of the Chinese people,” he said.

The Japanese condemned the violence, but took a softer approach.

In Tokyo, the chief secretary of the Japanese cabinet, Kiroyuki Hosada, said China and Japan should try to calm relations.

Hosada said that both sides should work to “prevent mutual misunderstanding from growing,” and he also refrained from direct criticism of China’s statement that Japan is to blame for the weekend disturbances.

“If I said at this moment that this is terrible and condemned it, it would not make things any better,” he said of the Chinese Foreign Ministry statement, according to news reports from the Japanese capital.

Japan may be seriously at fault when it comes to atoning for its sins of 60 years ago, but in terms of diplomatic skills, they win points for taking what appears to be a rational approach. (Again, in terms of diplomacy, not necessarily in terms of doing what’s right.)

Philip Cunningham, a China hand often seen on CCTV-9 (and who I wrote about in this blog two years ago) has written a scathing column denouncing Japan’s systematic revision of its history books to make it appear the Nanjing massacre was a minor incident (if it happened at all).

The United States, ever quick to criticize China for human rights abuses, has of late been remarkably silent about Japan’s ethical lapses, current and historical.

Japanese politicians and publishers have made a cottage industry of denying the 1937 Nanking Massacre in which the Japanese killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in the old Chinese capital. This is an offense to Chinese sensibilities comparable with Holocaust denial in Europe. In recent months, major publishers and broadcasters have been bullied to conform and self-censor in accord with the rising tide of resurgent militarism. That tacit government approval is given to such xenophobic, right-wing thinking can be seen in the latest Ministry of Education-approved school texts that erase or evade critical lessons drawn from Japan’s bad behavior in its war of aggression.

In the “New History Textbook,” the Nanking Massacre is dismissed as a controversial “incident.” And the war of invasion is no longer termed an invasion. New textbooks drop references to “comfort women,” sex slaves of mostly Chinese and Korean origin who were forced to service Japanese fighting men in the field. To borrow a phrase from the late writer Iris Chang, the abused women are being raped a second time, this time by defenders of the Japanese army who attempt to erase them from memory.

This is one where you’ll want to read it all. I agree with many of his points, but it’s important to remember that Cunningham is always (or at least mostly) anti-America and pro-CCP. (He definitely knows where his bread is buttered.)

I think the US is taking its usual “pragmatic” approach to this issue — Japan is an important ally and it’s not worth risking the relationship over this emotionally charged issue. I’m not saying this is the right approach, and I believe we should demand that Japan live up to its past. But in the world of realpolitik, and at a time when China is receiving a barrage of criticism, I wouldn’t expect our policy to change one iota.

(Thanks for the link, Tian.)

Predictably, the demonstrations in China are making the situation worse, creating a tug of war and ratcheting up Japanese nationalism and militancy.

Japanese politicians, however, have dismissed the complaints of China and South Korea, saying they are trying to exploit the past to keep Japan from claiming its rightful place in the world. Shinzo Abe, the acting secretary general of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, said Sunday that anger at social problems in China, including widening income gaps, was really behind the weekend marches.

“Japan is an outlet to vent that anger,” Mr. Abe said in an appearance on the “Sunday Project” television program.

“Since the Tiananmen incident, these kinds of demonstrations were severely restricted, but the authorities tolerated these kinds of anti-Japanese gatherings, and the people themselves used these anti-Japanese marches,” he said. “Because of the anti-Japanese education there, it’s easy to light the fire of these demonstrations and, because of the Internet, it’s easy to assemble a lot of people.”

China’s and South Korea’s complaints have only strengthened the hands of conservative politicians like Mr. Abe or Shintaro Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, who take an unapologetic stance toward Japan’s neighbors.

Under Mr. Ishihara, whose views were regarded as extremist only a few years ago but are now mainstream, the Tokyo metropolitan government has for the second year punished teachers who refused to stand and sing “Kimigayo,” the national anthem, a symbol of militarism to many inside and outside the country, or refused to force their students to do so. During this spring’s graduation ceremonies, 53 such teachers were punished.

The article notes the rallies in China have resulted in a steep and rapid deteriotation of relations between the two countries. I realize the textbooks that started this whole mess were flawed and inexcusable and I also realize they were a mere catalyst, a spark that ignited the tinderbox. But was it really worth it, releasing those pent-up hatreds and feeling good for a few minutes by throwing things, when there’s so much at stake? (Like China’s global reputation, trade with Japan, perceptions of Chinese belligerence, etc.)

I read on a Chinese message board today how the demonstrations show China’s might, and proves they aren’t “a country to mess with.” I’m not sure if the sight of a few thousand teenagers throwing eggs truly conveyed that message to the world. It did, however, send a message about the people’s insecurity and lack of self-control, which I doubt will provide much long-term benefit.

A blogger in China offers a report that police in Chengdu, fearing that public wrath may turn around and strike at the Party, are cracking down forcefully on the demonstrators:

It seems that on Saturday evening around 6:00pm a crowd of university students began to gather outside of the same Ito Yokado department store they demonstrated against last weekend on April 3rd. This time however, police were ready for them and according to my friends, police used their batons to beat several of the students that were apprehended while trying to smash the store windows. Wang Li said that he wasn’t sure how many students were involved in Saturdays incident because the area is a huge shopping square and there are always large crowds in the area, but he did note that there were more than 10 police wagons at the scene.

Of course this is second-hand information, but it’s also from two Chinese eyewitnesses that don’t particularly care for the Japanese either.

It would seem that the Chinese government has decided that enough is enough and as a result, they are trying to calm things down before it gets out of control. They definitely wouldn’t want this anger turning inward towards the party.

They definitely wouldn’t. I think maybe the protests have served their usefulness (in the party’s eyes) and now it’s time to call it a day. We’ll see.

A great article by Robert Marquand on the China-Japan tensions provides lots of food for thought.

Beijing is widely thought to have tacitly supported the protests. Yet popular anger against Japan is so raw that it takes little effort to spark….

Not since 1985, when the then Japanese prime minister visited the Yasukuni Shrine, has Beijing allowed such a demonstration.

While described as a spontaneous rally, the organized nature of the Saturday protest seemed apparent to some observers. Areas for press, protesters, and riot police were taped off. Movement was carefully organized: crowds were sent past the Japanese Embassy, then to buses to usher them out. One policeman told an approaching reporter that a detour was necessary, since “political activity” had been scheduled….

Protesters were not only allowed to hurl objects, but police in some cases helped create space for them to do so. During the most intense period, city police around the Polish Embassy were seen chatting and sharing takeout foo

Read the whole thing, because the reporter has some astute observation not only on the obvious government encouragement, but also about why this situation is causing so much anxiety in Asia and the US.

There are things to criticize about all the players here – Japan, China and Korea. But, he points out, we know Japan and Korea, while America still feels it doesn’t truly know China. Is it a military threat? An ally? Are they getting closer to democracy? Are they authoritarian? Are they imperialiastic? Are they still capable of Cultural Revolution-style mass violence? The demonstrations bring these questions to the forefront and reawaken Americans’ intrinsic ignorance and fear of China, and make our leaders wonder about what our relationship with China should be.

So I stick to my key point: No matter how justified the hatred of Japan is, the reaction this past week was a net negative for China in virtually every way. Maybe it felt good at the moment, but it accomplished nothing of any value to China, and in fact only hurt the country.

My spam filter has been very zealous lately, and if your comment doesn’t go through please email it to me and I’ll find out what happened, make the change and get it posted.

Due to incredible amounts of spam — I’ve now had 115,000 spam comments dince December — I have had to add certain words to the list that could cause problems for some commenters, like Poker, Blackjack and Incest and many others. Also, I had no choice but to add the drug Cialis. Unfortunately, if you try to type the word “Socialist,” the comment will be blocked as it contains the letters “cialis.” Also, if you put in more than 5 URLs it’ll be blocked.

Thanks for being accommodating and sorry for the inconvenience.

Update: Schticky, you just tried to post two comments and they were blocked — please email them to me!

Oh, and a special note to the spammers: Burn in hell, motherfuckers.

Definitely makes you wonder:

The last time such a march happened in Beijing was on May 9, 1999, when Chinese students marched from Haidian to the US Embassy, to protest against the US Airforce bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. During that protest, stones and molotov cocktails were thrown over the embassy walls, but the police chased everyone away once the point had been made.

The 1999 protests were organized with tacit consent and perhaps organizational encouragment from the authorities. It seems that today’s protest is similar: state-owned news agency’s Chinese website had an anti-Japanese headline for most of this morning…

You don’t have to be a Rhodes scholar to figure out what’s going on here.

The papers and the Net today have been jammed with stories (and some great photos) about anti-Japanese protests in China, some of which became violent.

Thousands of Chinese smashed windows and threw rocks at the Japanese embassy and ambassador’s residence in Beijing on Saturday in a protest against Japan’s wartime past and its bid for a U.N. Security Council seat.

Protesters pushed their way through a paramilitary police cordon to the gates of the Japanese ambassador’s residence, throwing stones and water bottles and shouting “Japanese pig come out.”

Some 500 paramilitary police holding plastic shields raced into the compound and barricaded the gates. Protesters threw stones and bricks at the residence, and shouted at police, “Chinese people shouldn’t protect Japanese.”

Anti-Japanese sentiment has been running high in China since Tuesday Japan when approved a textbook critics say whitewashes atrocities committed during World War II, and many Chinese feel the country has not owned up to its wartime aggression.

Demonstrators, who said they had been organized mostly through e-mail and instant messaging, had been marching peacefully under heavy police guard.

One group began throwing bottles and stones when they passed a Japanese restaurant, smashing windows with tiles they had ripped from its roof before police stopped them.

A second Japanese restaurant was targeted later in the evening, with bricks thrown through the window, terrifying kimono-clad waitresses.

“We are all Chinese in here and were just minding our own business,” one told Reuters minutes after the attack. “This is terrifying.”

I’ll say it again. The Chinese have a great point, just as the protestors in Seoul do. The revision of Japan’s history textbooks is unjustifiable and inexcusable. The misery that the Japanese army wrought on the Chinese during the last world war was unparalleled in its savagery. Anger is not only justified, it’s called for.

Attacking Japanese restaurants in China, however, and terrorizing the Chinese workers there is not the best way to deal with the issue. In fact, if I had to think of a more immature and ineffective way to deal with it, I’d be hard pressed. This has already backfired, making China appear to be the criminal and not Japan. Ugly pictures of angry, out-of-control Chinese demonstrators are plastered on Drudge, and while it may feel good at the moment to release some of the anger, in the long run it only works against the demonstrators.

So many stories on China over the past 24 hours, but I have to deal with family issues this weekend, so I may not get to cover them, at least not until tomorrow….

Go here for a most interesting eyewitness blogger account of the demonstrations.

Christian conservatives are preparing to take over the country. You would expect to see something like this in Iran or Saudi Arabia, not here.

Participants at this week’s Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration meeting said the group also will focus on forcing Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against any judge who does not conform with their biblically based interpretation of the Constitution, as well as permanently curb judicial authority over matters of church and state, marriage and governmental acknowledgement of a Christian deity.

“What it is time to do is impeach justices,” Texas Justice Foundation President Allan Parker extolled a crowd of a hundred or so conservative lobbyists, attorneys and activists. “The standard should be any judge who believes in the ‘living constitution’ should be impeached.”

There’s more. You really have to see it to believe it. When is this insanity going to stop?

Update: The theocrats’ attack reaches new and deranged heights. It’s time to stop pretending that this is a bunch of marginalized freaks and to acknowledge that many of the perpetratotrs are members of the core Republican base and include some of our very highest legislators.