Sunday, April 17, 2005
China vs. Japan
Recent events in China have caused some of you to worry about our safety and well-being. The U.S. State Department has issued a general warning to American citizens to "be cautious" in case any of the anti-Japanese sentiment be channeled agains foreigners in general. However, we have not seen any action in our city, although American news outlets report protests in neighboring cities and provinces.
The Chinese press coverage of these events perfectly represents many of the strange encounters we've had since arriving. To date, there has been no mention of protests in the news. The few people we have asked about it had no idea anything was happening until we brought it to their attention. To me, it speaks very clearly about the product of a "closed" country with such strict controls on the press. While a ban on satellite television might be understood, an Internet ban against BBC News online seems a little extreme.
On a different occasion we expressed to one of the teachers here our interest in visiting Tiananmen Square in Beijing during the May holiday. He was curious what interest we had in the square, and we told him about the press coverage during the 1989 Democracy protests. I'll never forget the look on his face: simultaneously blank and confused. His response: "I've never heard of that. It didn't happen like that." Neither Katrina nor I had the heart to tell him that cameras were rolling LIVE during the "massacre" and that we had both witnessed it with our own eyes.
In any case - we were surprised to learn of the animosity between China and Japan. Our broad categorization of the Chinese and Japanese as "Asians" may mislead some to believe that all "Asians" have similar interests and speak with one voice. However, there is a deep-rooted animosity against the Japanese that is apparent even in the jokes that our students tell us. While political battles are often full of exaggerated claims and sensational language used to rally people behind a certain cause, both Katrina and I find the attack against Japanese textbooks to be exceptionally absurd - almost humorous. For an interesting article about what the Chinese themselves edit out of their own history books, see this article. The issues surrounding Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council and the border dispute involving off-shore drilling are obviously delicate with many serious implications for both sides. But the protests against Japanese textbooks (in light of China's own history against herself) has us shaking our heads day after day.
We will continue to watch events here closely, and to "exercise caution" as we have been advised.
The Chinese press coverage of these events perfectly represents many of the strange encounters we've had since arriving. To date, there has been no mention of protests in the news. The few people we have asked about it had no idea anything was happening until we brought it to their attention. To me, it speaks very clearly about the product of a "closed" country with such strict controls on the press. While a ban on satellite television might be understood, an Internet ban against BBC News online seems a little extreme.
On a different occasion we expressed to one of the teachers here our interest in visiting Tiananmen Square in Beijing during the May holiday. He was curious what interest we had in the square, and we told him about the press coverage during the 1989 Democracy protests. I'll never forget the look on his face: simultaneously blank and confused. His response: "I've never heard of that. It didn't happen like that." Neither Katrina nor I had the heart to tell him that cameras were rolling LIVE during the "massacre" and that we had both witnessed it with our own eyes.
In any case - we were surprised to learn of the animosity between China and Japan. Our broad categorization of the Chinese and Japanese as "Asians" may mislead some to believe that all "Asians" have similar interests and speak with one voice. However, there is a deep-rooted animosity against the Japanese that is apparent even in the jokes that our students tell us. While political battles are often full of exaggerated claims and sensational language used to rally people behind a certain cause, both Katrina and I find the attack against Japanese textbooks to be exceptionally absurd - almost humorous. For an interesting article about what the Chinese themselves edit out of their own history books, see this article. The issues surrounding Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council and the border dispute involving off-shore drilling are obviously delicate with many serious implications for both sides. But the protests against Japanese textbooks (in light of China's own history against herself) has us shaking our heads day after day.
We will continue to watch events here closely, and to "exercise caution" as we have been advised.
# posted by Doug Spencer : 8:28 AM
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