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China: Hate is news worthy, repentenance is not

« H E News and Politics :: Sino-Japanese :: News and Perspectives :: email
posted Sunday, 10 August 2008
A couple of years back, as veteran readers may remember, ACB produced an exhaustive series of commentaries on the subject of Japan's Yasukuni Shrine, and its place in Sino-Japanese relations. Both on this very blog, and on across a variety of current affairs/China services.

As part of this commentary ACB noted three key facts

1) That the greater Mainland public tend to only hear one side of the story
2) That the greater Mainland public is more likely to hear something in Beijing's words than in Japan's
3) That stories that perpetuate Mainland beliefs about Japan/Yasukuni tend to go off with a bang, while those that contradict them tend to arrive with a whimper, if at all.

While a lot can be said on all three of these topics, more than ACB has time to write, it is the third of the three that comes to mind at this time.

Bang V Whimper?

For China watchers, it is hard to cast ones mind back to the premiership of former Japanese Prime minster Koizumi Junichiro without recalling the Yasukuni controversy and how it often dominated the headlines.

In the simplest possible terms, events would go as follows:

  • An occasion would arise (an anniversary, a festival, and so on), and the Japanese media would speculate on whether or not then Prime minster Koizumi would visit Yasukuni Shrine
  • China would stand on its soapbox and tell the Koizumi that going would "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people" and that they shouldn't do so if they valued Sino-Japanese relations
  • Then Prime minister Koizumi would ignore China and go anyway
  • The Chinese media would blast him for doing so

These events repeated themselves year in year out right up until the end then Prime minister Koizumi's time in office.

Each time Koizumi would state that they was going to the Shrine for personal reasons and the Chinese media would treat it as if it were a state occasion, and each time they would go through the normal rituals appropriate for whatever event was being held and the Chinese media would treat it as if they had prostrated them self before the tomb of Tojo Hideki himself.

That was the bang. Now for the whimper.

Throughout then Prime minister Koizumi's period of office Beijing called for the visits to stop and used the fact that they didn't as political capital to promote the idea that Japan was uncaring and unremorseful. However, the situation has changed somewhat under current Prime minister Fukuda Yasuo, and so has press coverage in China. To be precise, both the visits and the coverage have stopped. While the first is broadly considered to be a good thing by China watchers, the second isn't for reasons which should soon become apparent.

Announcement?

Earlier this week current Prime minister Fukuda Yasuo stated that they would continue their boycott of Yasukuni Shrine, and that they would not be paying homage there on 15 August, the 63rd anniversary of Japan's surrender to US forces: Known in the West as "VJ-Day", striking a powerful blow against Japan's discredited nationalist minority, and an equally powerful one for continued warmth between Japan and China.

However while this news should have been greeted with cheers in China it was larges ignored. Most Mainland news agencies either published nothing, or published only a brief press statement with minimal commentary on the significance of the announcement. Many accounts on the Mainland media were also in English and not Chinese.

Xinhua in particular, which campaigned vociferously for former Prime minster Koizumi to cease and desist their Shrine visits, covered the story in less than 250 words despite Prime minister Fukuda's actions being a direct acceptance of Beijing's state line: that a standing Japanese official visiting Yasukuni Shrine - even in a personal capacity - was "undesirable".

Why?

While the school of thought exists that "an official not doing something controversial is not news worthy", China watches have noted that the Chinese media has a significant tendency to avoid publishing stories about Japanese citizens or official doing anything which contradicts Beijing's official state line that Japan is unremorseful and is unconcerned about hurt that China may feel over past events.

As such, the big Chinese media typically does not publish stories that about Japanese showing remorse or regret, or offering apologies, but is copious in its coverage of Japan's discredited nationalist minority, even though they represent a fraction of the population, and any actions that they may do which could anger China. For example, while the Mainland media made much capital about the publication of a controversial Japanese textbook that whitewashed Japanese acts of aggression towards China, they in effect ignored the subsequent Japanese protests against the textbook by Japanese teachers and parents, or the news that Japanese state schools were boycotting the book. Coverage, if any, is usually left down to local media, and then only on occasions when the statement of regret, remorse, or the apology is made is locally relevant.

Other events which similarly seemingly flew under the Chinese media radar include the 2002 testimony given by former Unit 731 member Shinozuka Yoshio in a Japanese court in support of 180 Chinese victims of Japanese atrocities, and reactions to Chinese on the on news of the death of former Japanese soldier the late Azuma Shiro: known as "The Conscience of Japan" for his work to educate Japanese about the Nanking Massacre and to reconcile with China for Japan's past atrocities.

"He was a warrior fighting for justice. He was a sincere friend of Chinese people"

Jing Shenghong, Professor of History, Nanjing University 

"I used to hate the Japanese so much .... But when I saw the old Azuma in tears, bowing and kneeling before us in repentance, I couldn't hold back my tears"

Jiang Fugen, Nanking Massacre Survivor

Similarly, few Chinese are aware of annual events of remembrance that take place in Japan, such as the Sagami-ko memorial ceremony to remember war slaves who died in the construction of the Sagami reservoir.

See Here and Here for further information.

Continued Stance?

Prime minister Fukuda decision to boycott 15 August ceremonies at Yasukuni Shrine come as no surprise to Japan watchers. Prior to taking office Prime minister Fukuda stated that they had no intention of visiting the visit the Shrine because hurt that doing so would cause amongst Japan's neighbors. Prime minister Fukuda has maintained this stance ever since.

"there is no need to do things that others hate"

Fukuda Yasuo, Prime minster, Japan, Speaking 14 September, 2007

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View Comments/Add a Comment (9)


1. tim left...
Sunday, 10 August 2008 12:37 pm

i've never followed this stuff too closely, but the part about some japanese boycotting the textbook was very insightful. thanks for sharing this stuff. too bad state-controlled chinese media sucks so much


2. ACB left...
Sunday, 10 August 2008 5:07 pm

The great irony about the whole textbook thing is that while Beijing tries to use the existence of the textbook as a sign that Japan is militant and unremorseful, Japan's actual reaction to the textbook (Which most Mainlanders are unaware of) shows the exact opposite.

The book is produced by a small right wing organization who GIVE IT AWAY in three languages (four if you count traditional and simplified Chinese as being seperate), yet its readership is so minute that each copy is practically a collectors item.

The book has been denounced by Japan's teaching union and there are protests by students, teachers and parents over it, and no state school ANYWHERE in Japan actually uses it. In fact as of the last count that was done only a handful of private schools used it, all of which are clustered in a limited area of Tokyo, and all of which provide for children with disabilities (Hence being budget conscious).

When you get right down to it, the textbook has been read by more foreigners looking to see want the fuss is about than it has been read by actual Japanese children in the classroom.


3. Ed left...
Monday, 11 August 2008 12:40 am

While I would never argue that the Chinese media's representation of anything Japan-related is balanced - and I have not looked in detail at the coverage (or lack of it) of Fukuda's decision not to visit Yasukuni - I don't think it's accurate to say that Chinese media does not give prominence to opposition within Japan towards both Yasukuni and also the textbooks issue. During the textbook controversy of 2005 for about a two-week period People's Daily devoted at least a page per day to covering exactly this kind of opposition (and on no less than four occasions the paper pointed out exactly how few schools used the textbooks in question). It always reports that the failure to properly address history in Japan is the fault of the "Japanese right wing" - a phrase that is usually accompanied with the classic "tiny minority". This may well be to serve the CCP's own aims rather than being in the name of fair and balanced journalism but it remains significant nonetheless.


4. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS left...
Wednesday, 20 August 2008 12:06 am

JAPANESE ATTROCITIES AGAINST CHINA IN THE 20TH CENTURY ARE ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC , AND BY TYPICAL JAPANESE STYLE THEY WILL FOREVER DENY IT ! EVER WONDERED WHY THERE WERE FEW JAPANESE WAR CRIMES TRIALS AFTER THE 2ND WORLD WAR ?.. COMPARED TO GERMANY THERE WERE VERY FEW . I HAVE ONLY BEEN TO CHINA TWICE , BUT WHAT I SAW IS A POLICE RUN , STATE RUN COMMUNIST REGIME THAT HAS A MILLION MILES TO GO YET BEFORE IT WILL EVER REPRESENT FREEDOM FOR ITS PEOPLE , THEIR INTERNET IS HEAVILY CENSORED , MONITORED AND PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE LIKE ME WHO SPEAK OUT FREELY , I LIVE IN THE UK AND I PERSONALLY SHOWED A CHINESE GIRL FROM WUHAN ALL THAT WE HAVE ON THE T'SQUARE MASSACRES , SHE WAS AMAZED .. SHE NEVER KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED THERE IN ALL HER 40 YEARS AS A CITIZEN IN WUHAN SHE NEVER HAD A SINGLE CLUE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN T'SQUARE..... HOW THE UPRISING WAS QUASHED WITH THE CHINESE MILITARY AND TANKS ON THE STREET , SHE KNEW ITS NOT WESTERN PROPAGANDA AS SHE RECOGNISED CLEARLY WHERE EVERY BIT OF FOOTAGE WAS FILMED .. WHY DOES CHINA HIDE SO MUCH FROM ITS OWN PEOPLE ? WORSE STILL WHY DOES CHINA PUNSIH THOSE WHO WANT TO FIND OUT A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE FREE WORLD ? I THINK THE THREAT OF A WEAKENED COMMUNISM STATE / GOVERMENT IS THE CASE , THEY HAVE THE PEOPLE LIVING IN FEAR AND THEY PREFER IT THAT WAY.


5. ACB: left...
Wednesday, 20 August 2008 2:35 am

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS:

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I thin that you're living in a dream world, and that you're knowledge of this topic comes more from the Discovery channel than form any actual authoritative experience. You're typical Japanese is fully aware of Japanese war crimes, and how terrible they were. There have been endless retellings of the war on every front, from history text books, to Anime. Japanese who don't know what happened are more likely to be Japanese-Americans than Japanese Japanese.

You ask why there were very few Japanese war crimes trials compared to Germany, well

1) The criminals were dead. A great many Japanese war criminals were killed by America and in the retreat from China. Now, you have to ask yourself which is more just. To die by the hangman's noose at the whim of a stranger, or to die with the steal of those whom you wronged stuck in your belly? 2) The Germany war crimes trial tried people from non-combatant crimes. For example clerks whom had organized the paperwork for death camps were put on trial. This did not happen in Japan, most of the people put on trial were either directly guilty or murder, or were guilty of organizing acts of murder.

You might also be upset to know that many Japanese war criminals were pardoned by AMERICAN in exchange for research notes on chemical and biological warfare experiments carried out on CHINESE CIVILIANS.

You also appear to know just as little about China as you do about Japan, else you would not call China a communist country. China is more capitalist than American in many respects. It is one of the most ferociously capitalist countries in the world. You may wish to note the proliferation of private industry, the lack of a communist communal system, and the merit based economic system.

You might do well to forget about showing Chinese evidence for Tiananmen, and start showing the English, I too have been to the UK, I spent a long time there and almost NO ONE knew anything about it. In fact very few people in the UK know where Tiananmen Square is, other than that it is in China. If you ask them about it they may know that lots of students died there, but how many know that many of those who died were workers who were campaigning for MORE communism, not for more democracy.

On the point of censorship, I could say something very similar of America. How many American's know about American war crimes?


6. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS left...
Wednesday, 20 August 2008 4:18 am

THANK YOU FOR YOUR EMAIL , IT SEEMS THAT IT HAS BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD AND I APOLOGISE AS ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE , nor am I american or british . FIRSTLY THE FEW JAPANESE WAR CRIMES I SPOKE OFF WERE VERY FEW DUE TO AMERICAN POLITICS AT THAT TIME .. I.E GENERAL MCARTHUR , SECONDLY MOST PEOPLE WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN TRIED IN COURT WERE STILL ALIVE IN 1945 OKAY !! THIRDLY .. AND SURPRISINGLY YOU FAILED TO NOTE THAT MY ENTRY WAS ACTUALLY PRO CHINESE ... CONSIDERING THAT I LOVE CHINA AND ALWAYS WILL .. ITS HARD FOR ME TO WRITE ANYTHING BAD ABOUT CHINA .. FOURTHLY .. SORRY ABOUT MY BAD ENGLISH. KIND REGARDS .


7. ACB left...
Wednesday, 20 August 2008 4:35 am

When you look at the number, quite a few people were tried and convicted for war crimes by American and the Allies. About 5,700 Japanese were convicted as Class B or Class C war criminals. 920 of them were executed and a further 475 were sentenced to life terms. A further 2,944 were sentenced to various sentence lengths. It is worth noting that not all of these people were Japanese. 178 Taiwanese and 148 ethnic Koreans were also convicted of Japanese war crimes. China itself convicted about 4500 Japanese of war crimes and carried out around 1,000 executions.

It is not really my concern whether you are pro or anti China. I have personally spoken out against China/Beijing many times, but have also defended it when I feel that it is being treated unfairly.


8. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS left...
Wednesday, 20 August 2008 6:42 am

I thank you again for your marvellous info , its great to chat to someone of immense knowledge and your stats are wonderful and highly interesting, out of interest ...what do you know about the masonic Lodge in China ? I am currently in Sweden , where are you ?


9. loveandtheplanet left...
Wednesday, 3 September 2008 4:29 pm :: http://www.loveandtheplanet.blogspot.com

Even as memories of World War 2 are receding into the graves of those who lived to tell its tales, so too must the memories of the Japanese.

If the Chinese government has such control over the minds and emotions of its people, I have to congratulate them. They obviously know what they are doing. They must have learned from the BBC, Sky, CNN, and Fox Television, to name a few.

Let's hope they have just as much control over the ecosystems, the communities, the social infrastructure and the environment. They could learn that from the Discovery channel, I suppose? And maybe G8 nations might decide to do the same.

To watch China in such an obsessive way is a strange hobby, the sort of hobby that used to be done by fat old colonialist Englishmen with Chinese wives who didn't understand 99% of what they were thinking, thanks to the language difference. It's nice to know somebody is keeping the hobby going.