You had to see this coming if you were a witness to the “Korea-Boom” that has been going on these last few years in Japan. Aside from the long, long history of hate towards Koreans, I am certain that there is also an element of sexual jealousy at work on the part of Japanese men who are seeing their women swept off their feet by Korean male stars. That certainly could account for alot of blind rage and general silliness you see anti-Korean boards.

July 30, 2005 @ 1:16 am | Comment

Andrew,

Jealousy? I don’t think so. Those Korean males are actors, stars in Korea. Japanese women being attracted to a movie star in Hollywood or Korea does not mean much to Japanese men.

July 30, 2005 @ 4:19 am | Comment

Yeah, If you want a real man you gotta look West.

July 30, 2005 @ 4:36 am | Comment

Richard,Why you say japanese is angry blogger? We come out on top.We are rich and happy.Stick that in your fu- man- chu.Money, Money, Hey Richard you like Tommy James and the Shandells?

July 30, 2005 @ 6:07 am | Comment

Apparently there are uppity trolls everywhere.

July 30, 2005 @ 7:37 am | Comment

Laowai, to good for nothing? Go back to collage.

July 30, 2005 @ 8:12 am | Comment

Too bad I don’t read Japanese. I really could have a good laugh reading those Blogs.

July 30, 2005 @ 8:43 am | Comment

Prowler, You like Tommy?

July 30, 2005 @ 8:55 am | Comment

“Prowler, You like Tommy?”

LOL, does that even mean anything? ENGRISH!!

Those blogs aren’t a surprise. There are silly, angry people everywhere. Remember those Chinese nationalist kids that hacked lots of Japanese websites? Same kind of people – if they were from the same country, these peeps would be close friends.

July 30, 2005 @ 9:45 am | Comment

“Yeah, If you want a real man you gotta look West.”

If you wanna a real male you gotta look Africa.

Don’t wrong me, I mean male gorilla. Must be terrific. Try one, Xena, good for you.

July 30, 2005 @ 10:29 am | Comment

How VERY Chinese.

July 30, 2005 @ 10:32 am | Comment

Bing, Your true color’s don’t look good on you.

July 30, 2005 @ 10:34 am | Comment

Xena,

How can you always hang around on Internet?

Are you a drop-out boy-scout?

July 30, 2005 @ 10:38 am | Comment

I’m actually a Chinese student.

July 30, 2005 @ 10:54 am | Comment

Oh yeah.

Wish you find a West partner.

July 30, 2005 @ 11:06 am | Comment

No gorilla please.

July 30, 2005 @ 11:06 am | Comment

To japanese man:

you are rich and happy? give me a break, I lived in Japan for years, I know how rich and happy they are. they are a bunch of pathetic creature,
work like a dog at work. as a child they rely on their mom. when they marry, the rely on their wife to take care of them. unattractive creature!!

July 30, 2005 @ 3:00 pm | Comment

“Historical revisionism has gained popularity in Japan over the last decade. While many apologists for Japan’s wartime past are simply obnoxious at worst, such as Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, there are other hip, charismatic commentators like Yoshinori Kobayashi, author of the popular Sensou-ron series of manga books, who are adept at arguing that, thanks to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan was a victim rather than a victimizer during the last war. “

Ok, finally some western blogger speaks out. Many months ago, when we argue that the anti-Japs movement is actually the concequence of popularized japanese Historical revisionism. Many commentators here criticized this view and argued that young generations are not like their ancesters..it’s not main stream…small portion of revised history books being used…….bla..bla..blah.
Chinese youngsters are the tools of CCP government…..blablablah..

Well, don’t tell me the readers of these high ranking blogs are all old men. Afterall, Shintaro Ishihara, a herotic name in Japan have stood up for more than 10 years, tells the true story.
Wake up!

July 30, 2005 @ 4:12 pm | Comment

by the way, I can’t even imagine or remember that any of Japan bashing blog in China gets into the top 10 lists.

July 30, 2005 @ 4:17 pm | Comment

The problem is you can’t deny Chinese youngsters are the tools of CCP government.

Such manipulation of CCP only makes good ugly.

And it’s not difficult for you to see what it has done for West and even other countries to portray China.

Young students are such a feisty and innocent or naive group to be easily manipulated by others.

The same applied to those in TQ in 1989.

July 30, 2005 @ 4:22 pm | Comment

Sorry, … in TS in 1989.

July 30, 2005 @ 4:22 pm | Comment

I can only see that CCP arrested and sentenced young Chinese nonviolent patriots after the demostration.(I wouldn’t call violent demonstrators patriots in this case)
Up to now, no evidence whatsoever CCP pushed students to the streets.

July 30, 2005 @ 4:31 pm | Comment

They don’t have to push students by telling them loudly what to do.

All they have to do is do nothing! That is good enough to push enough innocent students to take street.

And they apparently acquiesced in the violence like throwing paint to Japanese consulate, damaging Japanese (Chinese owned) restaurants and Japan made cars, still by just standing aside.

After they decided the show should stop, suddenly merely advocating a demonstration can be sentenced.

All this manipulation is clumsy and sarcastic enough to make us Chinese a laughing stock.

July 30, 2005 @ 4:49 pm | Comment

So, what do you want our poliemen to do at the scene?
Arrest people in front of thousands of angry demonstrators? Then probably someone start hurting or killing police, and then government send troops shooting people again? What’s wrong if government decides that arresting people afterwards could be a better strategy?
I don’t take speculations, sorry.

July 30, 2005 @ 5:06 pm | Comment

The post states that some of these blogs are in the top 10 list of Political Blogs. That doesn’t tell us how popular political blogs are relative to other topics, such as television, manga … the weather.

Additionally, Lin’s comment somehow links Ishihater to the actual political views of these blogs. The original post mentions Ishihater as a side comment about the far-right in Japan, without having stated that such views are necessarily shared by any specific blog. What is mentioned that a specific book is being discussed on many Japanese political blogs. Since politics is often controversial and divisive, I would come of no surprise that such a discussion is taking place.

What is surprising to me however, is that some people would find Japanese blogs discussing China and Korea somewhat of a “surprise.” As Japan’s two immediate neighbors, whose current events are almost always discussed in the news, and who have always been the topic of intense academic discussion, etc, it seems only natural that there be political blogs discussing them.

Just as PekingDuck does, almost every other political blog tends to lean towards one or another political spectrum. It should be no surprise that Japanese political blogs do the same. Imagine Pekingduck written by a Japanese person from Japan? Would it be considered a “far-right” or “far-left” blog devoted to bashing China?

Korea and China both are rich topics to explore and discuss. Take the history textbook issue for example. While Japan obviously has some issues with its own textbooks, in China and South Korea, school textbooks are approved and written in cooperation with only one source—the government. If I were Japanese, I know I’d be taking issue with topic. Take current events as another example, for instance, the vitriolic racism that surfaced in Xi’an after the ill-considered Japanese student skit fiasco, or the recent anti-Japanese (racist) riots. Or what about Wen Jiabao’s hypocritical pronouncement that only a country that acknowledges history is able to take a leading role in international affairs? What about the South Korean government hiding the fact that it received reparations from Japan? Really, there is just too much to discuss! However, I can only see such discussions reflecting badly on EVERY country in the region.

Additionally, Japanese bloggers cover a diversity of topics and opinions, there is dissent. My Japanese is not good enough to understand a lot of what is discussed on such blogs. My Chinese however, is good enough to understand that often a great deal of what is discussed on Chinese language blogs about Japan involves racist discussions, talks of killing Japanese, etc. I would only hope for some sort of even-handedness, such as mentioning the inadequacies of Japanese education, or similar faults in Japanese society.

All individuals have some political leaning, what is unfortunate is that being labeled “right-wing” or “left-wing” will automatically qualify one as being an extremist. From that direction, bias and racism are easily adopted. There is no room in heated political debate for discretion or complexity.

I am Chinese-American. I have Japanese friends from Japan, who are learning Mandarin and honestly making an effort to do something in China. That they sometimes find fault with China’s stance on issues such as history or politics, does not detract from my view that they are good people interested and benevolent to China. That one voted for Ishihater because she believes he runs Tokyo well, does not mean she is racist towards Chinese. Things are more complex than that, but it sometimes difficult to see beyond one’s emotions.

July 30, 2005 @ 5:07 pm | Comment

“So, what do you want our poliemen to do at the scene?
Arrest people in front of thousands of angry demonstrators? Then probably someone start hurting or killing police, and then government send troops shooting people again? What’s wrong if government decides that arresting people afterwards could be a better strategy?
I don’t take speculations, sorry. ”

Nothing wrong, ok? What has been achieved? Plenty of stupidity of all involved to anyone else?

July 30, 2005 @ 5:26 pm | Comment

Sorry, should be:

Plenty of stupidity of all involved exhibited to anyone else?

July 30, 2005 @ 5:32 pm | Comment

In terms of better strategy:

Everybody takes care of their own duty.

For Students that’s education and grow-up, for police that’s fighting crimes and keeping peace and order of the society, for military that’s defending the country, for government that’s domestic and foreign policy.

Students shouldn’t assume they have the right to attack others under any circumstances, police shouldn’t assume they can tolerate crimes of any kind, military shouldn’t point their guns at their own people, government shouldn’t rely on its young citizens to fight for its own responsibility.

July 30, 2005 @ 5:46 pm | Comment

Ok, Flourish, points taken.
But I still welcome your opinion about the following sentence:
“Historical revisionism has gained popularity in Japan over the last decade”
I know every boby got his own opinion and viewpoint. But, With friendly Japanese gals, is it possible you are missing the whole picture?
I doubt that Japanese people would openly label themselves as racists even if they are.
The fact is that they voted for Ishihara. This at least proves that Ishihara frequent hatred comments do not offend them much, OK? If so, I would natually think what’s behind this acceptance or better say compromise according to your logic.
I undertand your whole post is a tune-down effort. You see Korea and China are the natural choice of blog topics. I didn’t find it natural though ’cause theyve got Russia as its neighbor too. I would be surprised that US is not a hot political topic according to your logic. Nevermention those are Korea bashing or China bashing blogs.
Finally that fact that you’ve labelled demonstration as “racist riots” exposed your true color. I didnt’ even lable Tokyo residents as racists because of Ishihara, how could your label the demonstration as a racist riots because extremely few commited violent crime. Tell me, how many Japanese died in this incident and how many,ve been serious hurt. You were trying to show your fairness by openly acknowledging yourself as a Chinese-American, but you’ve showed that you are not!

July 30, 2005 @ 5:55 pm | Comment

“Or what about Wen Jiabao’s hypocritical pronouncement that only a country that acknowledges history is able to take a leading role in international affairs?”

This might not be that hypocritical.

What Wen tried to say is probably that:

only a country that acknowledges history (of its international involvement) is able to take a leading role in “international affairs”.

July 30, 2005 @ 5:57 pm | Comment

should be “you have showed you are not fair in fact”
in case you misundertand.
I have no intention to doubt your identity.

July 30, 2005 @ 5:59 pm | Comment

“The fact is that they voted for Ishihara. This at least proves that Ishihara frequent hatred comments do not offend them much, OK? If so, I would natually think what’s behind this acceptance or better say compromise according to your logic. ”

The reality probably is: ordinary Japanese couldn’t care less about China and thus whether China bashing or China loving has little to do with them at all.

What if a chief of a Chinese villige humiliates any other countries? Will the villigers dislike him for that sake? No one will care.

July 30, 2005 @ 6:05 pm | Comment

Flourish: Things are more complex than that, but it sometimes difficult to see beyond one’s emotions.

I’d like to introduce you to one of our commenters named Bingfeng (not Bing). The two of you could have some great debates.

July 30, 2005 @ 6:20 pm | Comment

Lin, do you have a list of China’s top ten blogs? Does such a list even exist?

July 30, 2005 @ 6:23 pm | Comment

Top ten-1.I Hate Japan 2.Japan Hater’s 3. China good Japan Bad 4.The Joy of Spitting 5.Sell your Daughter cause she ain’t no boy 6.Bingfeng’s: Never grow up.Never look in the mirror 8. Mono Thought With Bingfeng 9. How to steal from your friends(Don’t worry they expect it) 10. For a 5,000 Year Old Culture we’re way ahead of the game.

July 30, 2005 @ 9:07 pm | Comment

china’s top 10 blogs

china’s top 10 blogs

July 31, 2005 @ 12:08 am | Comment

Xena,

You are alright.

July 31, 2005 @ 2:55 am | Comment

I’m not concerned about these anti-Korea, anti-China blogs. They are fads. They are merely a reflection of deteriorated bilateral relations between govenments.

I don’t see any scary element like deep-setted animosity in these blogs. But haters in China and Korea harbor their anger bassed on history, not current events, diplomatic issues between our nations. It is not a fad that disappears sooner or later.

July 31, 2005 @ 3:43 am | Comment

“not current events, diplomatic issues between our nations”

Are you sure about that?

July 31, 2005 @ 3:48 am | Comment

Yes. It is a matter of how you classify issues, but both Chinese and Koreans are expressing their dissatisfaction about the way Japan deal with her history, not future.

Future rather than history is my position. I have been trying to encourage Koreans and Chinese to overcome their history with or without help from the Japanese government. Waiting could be a waste of time.

I believe that both Koreans and Chinese have the capacity do so because all others in Asia and the rest of the world could courageously do so. All others including Europeans who disliked Germans put the past behind them to move forward.

People in China and Korea should be able to do so too.

July 31, 2005 @ 4:49 am | Comment

I said it not because it is good for the Japanese but it is good for both Koreans and Chineses. Because they need to overcome sooner or later. Even if I were a African I would probably say the same to Korean and Chinese people.

July 31, 2005 @ 4:53 am | Comment

Older people may not be able to overcome their experience. But the young who were not even born 70 years ago and lived only 20, 30 years should be able to overcome and move forward.

July 31, 2005 @ 5:00 am | Comment

In contrary, all that is happening in all sides is more about presence and future rather than history.

Some ordinary people may not realize that but politicians in all sides do.

History to some extent serves as an exucse, not just for China.

As the victim of Japan’s past sins, China has the right to question Japan’s future development and if it learned the lession from the past. This right is legitimate though sometimes abused by the government.

On the other hand, Japan’s attitude towards its past only makes China and sometimes Korea doubt its real motive when making aggresive move to provoke all its big neighbours.

It’s obvious the history itself was not the main cause for the anti-Japan demonstrations in China and Korean.

Is Japan worried about the rise of China and thus its dominance in Asia? Possitive yes. What is it going to do? We Chinese all see the answer: not cooperative, defensive but aggressive. Sitting there and waiting for China to grow strong enough is the last thing Japan/Japanese want to happen.

July 31, 2005 @ 5:46 am | Comment

“But haters in China and Korea harbor their anger bassed on history, not current events, diplomatic issues between our nations. ”

——————-

i am just shocked by your ignorance.

the anti-japan sentiment was fueled by the repetitive denial of war crimes by current japanese politicians and many right-wing japanese.

in 1990s and even 1980s, chinese don’t have that much negative opinions on japan because in that period of time, japan as a country didn’t work to revise its history views.

like me, a young chinese who had a lot of experiences with japanese and japan, i had very good impressions on japanese and japan, only in recent years, with more and more japanese right wing madness, i become got angry.

July 31, 2005 @ 6:30 am | Comment

Bing,

One problem I have with China believing it has the “right” to interfere is that it has a firm policy of NOT interfering in other countries’ affairs – e.g. why it won’t criticise Sudan or Zimbabwe. Of course it then protected Sudan in the UNSC, which was taking its policy very far.

Anyway, back on track, the point is that China would NEVER allow another country to influence it’s education policy. Imagine if someone said, “Hey, hold on a minute – your textbooks are so biased against us. We demand you change them.” Beijing would go apeshit and decry this as imperialist, colonial influence or something. Chinese textbooks in my opinion are even dodgier than Japanese ones. Amongst some of the things many Chinese people believe that are:

# Tibet has forever been a part of China.

# Christian missionaries were all evil, drug-peddling rapists who helped bring China to its knees in the 19th century.

# The KMT spent most of the Asian war fighting the CCP, which in turn did most of the fighting against the IJA.

# China won the war against Japan (or they didn’t realise the Chinese front was the one place they weren’t properly defeated on).

# China was DEFENDING North Korea, which was minding its own business when the US attacked it.

As far as I’ve been told, history lessons are all heavily orientated to praise the central Chinese nation, the CCP and cover up any unsanitary parts of its past. At least Japanese children aren’t indoctrinated to praise the LDP.

Japan should change its textbooks because it is the right thing to do, not because China demands it. If China dares to do such a thing, then the PRC should open its textbooks to the world and have every country, faith and race that is mentioned in it pouring over the details and pointing out any distortions.

If China had to choose between reforming Japan’s textbooks and having its own dictated to by foreign governments, I wonder what it would do……..

July 31, 2005 @ 6:32 am | Comment

raj,

so your point is that

– before china makes her history textbooks perfect, she has no right to accuse japanese history revisionism

– before there is no racism, human rights violations, inequality, etc in the US. the washington government has no right to accuse other’s human rights records

– before UK troops withdraw from iraq, UK has no right to accuse the attacks in london

– before israel stops occupying arab lands, israel has no right to hunt former nazi criminals

is this what you want to say?

tell me when china could have the right to accuse japanese denying its war crimes in china in WWII?

July 31, 2005 @ 7:28 am | Comment

Why can’t Asia just get along?

I don’t read a lot of blogs these days, and the topics I write on tend to come from my own experiences rather than the internet. Here’s one blog entry on Harvard’s Global Voices Online that I have to point out, though (via Peking Duc…

July 31, 2005 @ 9:56 am | Comment

BF, it seems like you’ve conveniently forgotten how much Japan has invested in peace recently – in your own country and elsewhere. I’m definitely sympathetic to claims of Japanese stubbornness over WWII crimes, but the Japanese have done a lot for your country, and while I’m not suggesting you should be overly thankful, I think it would at least give you pause in your insistence that Japan is the same country as it used to be. The Japanese are far more aware of their history than I get the feeling you’d like to admit. That’s why “the book” called “historical revisionism” in Japan, by the majority of Japanese and not “history” as it is in places that DON’T allow for dissenting viewpoints in academia and government.

July 31, 2005 @ 12:28 pm | Comment

Also, keep in mind BF, that if there were a Japanese person here insisting that Nanjing and the experiments and POW abuse didn’t happen, rest assured I’d jump on him/her! I’m not supportive of the Japanese right wing.

I guess Soudenjapan did do that… And to address his/her last claim – ironically it’s not the young ones that get over it – in both countries (China/Japan) the young ones are the LEAST informed and the MOST nationalistic and the MOST likely to believe that their country has done no evil. The naive are always the cannon fodder for aggressive policies, because the old are too experienced and know that such aggression is a bad thing. I’m generalising here but in general i think it’s true.

July 31, 2005 @ 12:33 pm | Comment

It’s interesting to see the dynamics of the young Chinese and Japanese. They feed on each other, intensifying the hatred through their rhetoric. Some of those Japanese blogs are pure reaction to China’s reaction to Japan’s being “unapologetic.” One reacts, the other reacts to thte reaction,m the other reacts….like an atomic chain reaction, and you have perpetual flamethrowing. It’s unhealthy all the way around.

July 31, 2005 @ 12:39 pm | Comment

Richard, don’t start me offf that chicken-egg thing. Japanese moved those class I war criminals into the shrine around 1980, Without knowing it, chinese were loving Japanese to death at the same time. There was no such thing called Japanese hatred in China back then.
My grandpa and grandma, who were a reporter and a student, fighting against Japanese back in 1940’s, bought a SONY black-white TV and thought Japanese and Chinese would be friends forever since then.

July 31, 2005 @ 2:16 pm | Comment

lin,

OK. I will refer to your view on how the deterioration developed in my blog. Though small audience, your voice will be heard by some Japanese.

July 31, 2005 @ 4:12 pm | Comment

Laowai,

>ironically it’s not the young ones that get over it

I’m not sure if I got what you are trying to say, but let me start with this question.
Who do you suggest should get over with the past?

July 31, 2005 @ 4:23 pm | Comment

Bingfeng,

>the anti-japan sentiment was fueled by
>the repetitive denial of war crimes by
>current japanese politicians and many
>right-wing japanese.

As I said it is a matter of how you classify and organize information. Besides you are still referring to the past. What about apology and compensation?

I am sure that you can raise a present issue that does not require you to make reference to events in history. So move on. That is good for the Chinese and good for everybody.

The point is to move forward. You are not a victim. You don’t have a reason to be angry, though you may be concerned about the right wingers in Japan.

July 31, 2005 @ 4:46 pm | Comment

bingfeng,

>the repetitive denial of war crimes by
>current japanese politicians and many
>right-wing japanese.

Which one? Specify. I’ll look into it for deatils.

July 31, 2005 @ 4:54 pm | Comment

Move on doesn’t mean forget and deny.

Tell Germans and their chancellor to move on and never do self-sadistic gestures any more.

July 31, 2005 @ 4:55 pm | Comment

No Souden japan, you don’t get what I’m trying to say. Try reading it again. I’m saying that young people are entrenching themselves in the hate all the more, simply because they were not there, and do not have the perspective of what an awful thing rabid aggression and nationalism can be.

July 31, 2005 @ 5:11 pm | Comment

Self-sadistic = masochistic.

Anyway, I’m with Bing in that the Japanese right-wing are totally off the wall. It’s like the White supremecists that deny that the Holocaust happened. Total bs.

July 31, 2005 @ 5:13 pm | Comment

Bing,

>Move on doesn’t mean forget and deny

I don’t have time right now. Just quick resopnse. What does “moving on” mean?

Germans do things as they wish to do. I don’t think that the Japanese has anything to do with German way. My concern is, from objective point of view, it appears to be only Chinese and Koreans who have not overcome WW II in the world. I’m simply saying that it is high time no matter what.

July 31, 2005 @ 8:19 pm | Comment

Soudenjapan,
I would I could read Japanese….

July 31, 2005 @ 10:52 pm | Comment

“Self-sadistic = masochistic.”

I was looking for the word masochist.

Thanks.

August 1, 2005 @ 2:09 am | Comment

“Germans do things as they wish to do. I don’t think that the Japanese has anything to do with German way.”

That’s fair. So Japnese don’t expect China and Korea to react the same as those countries that forgive Germany.

“My concern is, from objective point of view, it appears to be only Chinese and Koreans who have not overcome WW II in the world. I’m simply saying that it is high time no matter what.”

What a surprise to me you have a concern like this.

In fact, I shouldn’t have been surprised. That exactly reflects the ignorance and denial of most Japanese.

August 1, 2005 @ 2:16 am | Comment

Bing,

>Japnese don’t expect China and Korea to
>react the same as those countries that
>forgive Germany.

Personally I’ve never made that comparison. I just believe that only the Chinese and Koreans appear to be left behind.

You may say that it is Japan’s falt. But I feel that the rest of the world are unanimously becoming less and less supportive to the Chinese and Korean claim, whereas Japan’s contribution to the peace and welfare of the world in the last 60 years are more and more regarded highly these days. In fact most of the countries in the world believe that Japan should be part of the U.N. Security Council.

Game over. As long as China keeps dictatorship, she is bound to be the bad guy. As a dictatorship grows more and more influential, the rest of the world will take sides more and more with Japan, Australlia, and the U.S. in this region.

That is a Chinese dilemma. Thus, I am not concerned about growing China.

August 1, 2005 @ 4:01 am | Comment

richard,

>It’s interesting to see the dynamics of the
>young Chinese and Japanese. They feed
>on each other, intensifying the hatred
>through their rhetoric.

My impression is that some young Japanese hate the Koreans and Chinese due to their belief that facts and evidence are fabricated in China and Korea in order to gain appology and money from Japan time and time again.

In China, for instance, the total number of Chinese war dead has been increased from several million to twenty to thirty million without proof. The Chinese official record says that 300, 000 people were killed in Nanking, without valid proof, whose population was only 200,000 at the time of the battle of Nanking.

Another example is Iris Chung who by now is very famous amongst the Japanese and scholars for her dilibarate inclusion of many composit photographs in her best seller book.

The Japanes youth are appeared to be saying that let’s talk on a factual basis, not hearsay and rumors. But the numbers just keep going up in China. They resent that. That is my personal impression.

August 1, 2005 @ 5:30 am | Comment

richard,

Correction. The Chinese government now says that 40 million Chinese were kill by the Japanese. Last year the figure was 35 million.

August 1, 2005 @ 5:45 am | Comment

“Game over. As long as China keeps dictatorship, she is bound to be the bad guy. As a dictatorship grows more and more influential, the rest of the world will take sides more and more with Japan, Australlia, and the U.S. in this region.”

We’ll see.

You just wish China would never archieve democracy because that’s the last thing China lacks to regain its historical dominance in Asia.

Democratic China vs aging and insular Japan. Sorry mate, you are doomed.

August 1, 2005 @ 7:05 am | Comment

Bing, I don’t think anyone in Japan wants China to remain a dictatorship. Give people some credit! Japan has already demonstrated that it gives a lot to humanitarian relief and humane causes. Wanting China to stay a dictatorship would be rather contrary to this.

August 1, 2005 @ 12:54 pm | Comment

Laowai

Most Japanese don’t care what China is gonna be, which is completely understandable and no one can blame them for that.

However, say “no one in Japan wants China to remain a dictatorship” is too absolute.

For long term prosperity, dictatorship will do no good. Of course there are people in Japan that don’t want China to become stronger would love China to remain dictatorship.

August 1, 2005 @ 2:04 pm | Comment

It’s about time, this is called standing up for yourself and your country.

This has been the norm in China, Korea and the US for decades, now Japan is finding a voice. Maybe soon the politicians will find one too.

August 2, 2005 @ 4:26 am | Comment

Bing,

>that’s the last thing China lacks to regain
> its historical dominance in Asia.

Is that your “dream come true”? No such a thing, Bing.

Even if the dominance should occur, China herself would be under dominance by someone else like Europeans, Americans, no Russians this time around but maybe Indians instead, and, to a modest extent, by Japanese.

That is why we all should cooperate, Bing, in a forward looking manner, not backward.

August 2, 2005 @ 5:22 am | Comment

soudenjapan

are you a japanese? if no, i’d better stop arguing on this matter.

August 2, 2005 @ 8:09 am | Comment

Yes, I am Japanese. But it doesn’t really matter, because I’m speaking in terms of what’s good for everybody, Chinese, Japanese, and people around the world.

The point is that real players in China’s economic development are primarily foreigners unlike Japan and other advanced countries when they were rapidly growing.

August 2, 2005 @ 9:58 am | Comment

What is good for everybody is not what your government really wants.

It’s Japan that keeps puhsing China to maintain its dominance in Asia and archieve military independence from US.

Of course, no one can be blamed for fighting for the best. I don’t blame Japan for that either. Just want to point out it’s not China who doesn’t want to play peace with Japan.

It’s not just about the visit of war shrine, legacy of comfort women, chemical and biological warfare and history textbook, it’s Taiwan, DiaoyuDao, east China sea and oil pipe. Japan is actually pouncing on all these issues to provoke China.

Yes, I said provocation, and all these issues smack of a deliberate strategy rather than a set of discrete incidents.

The CCP government is quite powerless facing such a combination punch. All it can do often is “strongly oppose” and recently “launch a students campaign”.

Unlike Korea, public discussion of Japan related sensitive topics like DiaoYuDao in China is forbidden, because the CCP knows there is nothing they dare do. The government just hopes to keep the status quo.

Yes, status quo. The current CCP government dreams of a status quo to allow time for ecnomic development.

But that’s not the case for your government. A normal country means military independence. The existence of a powerful military force requires an enemy. Remeber what Rumsfeld said. Why keep such an army without being threatened by any other country?

For Japan, nothing is easier than making up an enemy out of China.

The Japanese government probably thinks this is a war that Japan has little to lose.

However, you never know.

Really, sometimes you just don’t know.

“The Japanese expected a swift victory to conquer Shanghai in three days and China in three months.”

August 2, 2005 @ 2:51 pm | Comment

Bing,

You can talk about the chicken-egg type of action, reaction, and counteraction, but after all said and done, it ends up with communism and dictatorship. That is where every conflict has its root. That a dictatorship is growing means that danger is mounting for other good guys.

By the way you are getting comments from my audience. Not that sweet comments for you but you are surely attracting their attention.

August 2, 2005 @ 6:11 pm | Comment

The following are comments left by some Japanese audience for bingfeng, lin, and Bing on my website.

●Yasukuni Shurine

1. The spirits of both Class B and Class C War Criminals had been part of Yasukuni Shurine long before the spirits of Class A Criminals were included. Why do you think that only Class A’s are so special?

2. Separation of church and state. Yasukuni Shurine decided to include the spirits of Class A War Criminals. The Japanese government has nothing to do with it. What do you think about that?

3. Visiting Yasukuni Shurine doesn’t mean to praise and approve militalism.

4. China has no say in Japanese religion on how they handle spirt of the dead.

●Nanking Massacre

5. Conflicting testimonies by Mr. Shiro Azuma and his superior officer. Which testimony do you believe and why?

●China Now

6. To what extent do Chinese people have trust in Chinese media and education given by CCP? And why?

7. How do Chinese people treat the war-dead in China?

8. The Chinese appear to be overconfident now.

9. How do the Chinese deal with their own crimes in Vietnam, Uyghur, Tibet, Falun Gong?

10. Jiang Zemin started anti-Japan education in China. Today’s anti-Japanese movement in China is a result of the edcation.

11. China should enact a constitutinal artcle like Japan’s Article 9. That way China and Japan can engage in armament reduction.

●Revisionism

12. What the Japanese are doing is not really revisionism. They studied more histroy and then they corrected their views. It is not like revisionism or the revival of militarism in Japan.

13. The general public has better access to more accurate information on historical events by means of the Internet. It is not revisionism.

August 3, 2005 @ 5:00 am | Comment