So, if you've been reading world news, you might know that there recently has been a wave of anti-Japanese protests throughout China, but particularly in Wuhan. It's gotten pretty rough around here. A Sony store in the mall near my international school got smashed up. A few days ago, 2 of my colleagues were scooting around town and saw a division of police in riot gear coming away from a local university.
About 10 hours ago, the staff and I were told by the head office that we have to work tomorrow (Saturday, October 23rd) because Wuhan's civic government ordered all schools (middle school to university level) to remain open. Apparently, this move would encourage youth not to participate in a major upcoming anti-Japanese rally scheduled for tomorrow. It has been deemed "illegal" and the police and military have been called in to stop it by arresting protesters.
I'm not sure what group is pushing this protest-that-might-turn-riot. This is China, so perhaps there might be an ultra-nationalist student activist group behind all this. Indeed, it has been those groups that have fueled mass zeal here in China for the last century and a half.
I also think that people here who are easily disillusioned and dissatisfied in some way with their life (and there are a lot of these types of guys in China) are easily mobilized by the prospect of fighting with authorities and smashing stuff. They might come out in droves in the next few days. Would the CCP throw these guys in the slammer? We'll see.
To read a bit about the situation, here's a link to the NY Times Asia Pacific world briefings HERE.
Funny how Fox News says the authorities are "allowing" anti-Japanese demonstrations. Who knows...they might be right, but maybe not. Although they did use Associated Press for this one...Read about it HERE
Also funny is how all of this was sparked by a little island in the sea, and a detained Chinese captain on a Japanese boat.
Now, the hard part for me: how will I engage this political issue with my class if it arises through conversation? I've already heard many anti-Japanese remarks in the hallways over this week...
I think saying its 'just' about an island and a captain is over-simplifying the issue and ignores the decades of justified resentment from WWII occupation. What's interesting is China's willingness to use economic weapons to solve political problems.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stockhouse.com/Bullboards/MessageDetail.aspx?s=GWG&t=list&m=28740271&l=0&pd=0&r=0
It would be interested to engage your students in a conversations about what the compicated nature of business and politics and if China is doing the right thing by blockading rare earth to meet its political ends with Japan and the US.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8080321/Japan-turns-to-Vietnam-to-mine-rare-earth-minerals-vital-to-electronics.html
http://www.livescience.com/technology/etc/101019-china-halts-shipments-tech-crucial-minerals.html
Hey Paul,
ReplyDeleteSomehow I'm not surprised there's still an attitude of being anti-Japanese in China. The bitter history between the two countries lies very deep... especially after the atrocities that happened during WWII. Even my own parents, who aren't from mainland China, used to tell me about the terrible things that happened between the Chinese and Japanese before their time. I used to have Chinese friends in highschool who boycotted Japanese cars, music, electronics, and video games altogether.
What's upsetting is that the Japanese government has re-written many history textbooks to exclude the true details of what happened during the wars, leaving many of today's Japanese youth completely oblivious to what really happened.
Since your kids are old enough, I'd be curious to see how they'd react to a discussion around this topic. Try to approach it with an unbiased perspective? Which beg the question... are you even allowed to discuss such topics in China from different political angles?
-Yvonne
@ Rob: C'mon you know I'm oversimplifying! We learned about that stuff before undergrad! I'm fully aware that it runs deeper than "just" an island.
ReplyDeleteThere is an almost blind hatred of Japanese here in this part of China. It is as if younger generations of Chinese hate Japanese just because... well...just because!! My students wanted to smash a Toyota because it was Japanese. I asked them why and all they could tell me is that "Japan is the enemy." No political, or economic reason behind it...not like their parents or their parents' parents. I found that a bit strange. I assumed they had at least historical reasoning behind their hate, but they don't even have that.
Perhaps it is also because they are teenagers, and teenagers' cognitive understanding of things is a bit distorted. They see what they want to see, and they are full of hormonal imbalances. Add a dirty environment and oppressive socio-cultural expectations, they want to smash s--t up.
I like your idea of how to engage my students on this issue. So far they've been telling me they hate Japanese and Japanese stuff, but then pull out a Toshiba or a Sony hand-held. Maybe I'll try to talk to my grade 12's next week and write about it. They were pretty aware that Japanese don't understand the issue all that well because their population is left in the dark.
@Yvonne: Regrading mentioning different political angles - I will try the Socratic Method on them: Why do you think that? Who told you that? What do you mean by saying you hate Japanese? Technically, I'm not really discussing differing opinions. I'm just facilitating a discussion (that might lead to discussing various opinions).
ReplyDeleteOn another note, today I heard some students say that the Japanese are the enemy of the Chinese. I told them that I was sort of Chinese, and that I did not hate the Japanese. It didn't sink in.
I also think that the Sino-Japanese tension is part of a larger disillusionment with Chinese society. People here are angry over a lot of things, and the current exchange between the Japanese and Chinese have fueled people's fire. Yes they have deep historical reasons to hate Japanese, but they want to vent their general anger towards something.
ReplyDeleteThe authorities here fear that the protests can go from an anti-Japanese one to an anti-government one.
The news here is apparently spreading outrage on television, or so a Chinese speaking colleague of mine says, but only to a certain extent. China wants their population to rally behind something as to legitimize governmental control over the people. If they don't allow people to get angry, people here will think the CCP is weak and direct their anger towards CCP legitimacy. I think this current wave of anti-Japanese sentiment was a way to make people forget about deep problems in Chinese domestic issues. It also so happens that this issue has an historical story attached to it that is deeply emotional and alive.
Economic weapons = Chinese getting what they want internationally = the government reinforcing their historicity at home =
what China always desires...SAVING FACE.