Sunday, April 24, 2005
Pots and Kettles
It seems moves are being made to try and quell the recent rift in Sino-Japanese relations. PM Koizumi and President Hu met yesterday to talk about the issues. I give props to Koizumi for trying to publicly cool things down by apologizing for past atrocities, but I am very bothered by one element of this story.
The fact is, China is committing atrocities as we speak...or read. There's the whole Falun Gong thing as well as assorted abuse of women, especially in Tibet. Since China has strict control over who can protest about what, it's pretty obvious that they're allowing these anti-Japanese sentiments to run wild so fewer people will question the activities of their own government. Kind of like how Americans hear all about problems in the Middle East whenever someone asks the President about problems here in the U.S.
Bottom line, I hate the idea that Koizumi feels pressure to apologize for sixty-year old shit he couldn't stop and can't take back while Hu isn't saying or doing anything about shit that's happening right now.
The fact is, China is committing atrocities as we speak...or read. There's the whole Falun Gong thing as well as assorted abuse of women, especially in Tibet. Since China has strict control over who can protest about what, it's pretty obvious that they're allowing these anti-Japanese sentiments to run wild so fewer people will question the activities of their own government. Kind of like how Americans hear all about problems in the Middle East whenever someone asks the President about problems here in the U.S.
Bottom line, I hate the idea that Koizumi feels pressure to apologize for sixty-year old shit he couldn't stop and can't take back while Hu isn't saying or doing anything about shit that's happening right now.
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Yes, the manipulative hypocrisy of the Chinese Communist Party & Government is repulsive, but should be no surprise. That is what Communist parties and governments have done traditionally, just in case anyone has forgotten. Popular outrage on tap. Yes the PRC uses this as a club with which to beat Japan over the head anytime they want something.
But Japan has a problem of its own making. As a government and as a society the Japanese have NEVER been forthright about the horrible atrocities committed as a matter of public policy in WW2, including the Nanking horrors, Unit 731 biological warfare experiments on live subjects, an occupation of China as bad as anything done in Russia by the Nazis, the outrageous abuse of civilian and military prisoners, and the mass murder of Filipinos in Manila. These were not mere "excesses" by "overzealous" local commanders. In contrast to the thorough and complete acknowledgments by the Germans the Japanese still offer official apologies that are barely recognizable as apologies IF you read them carefully enough. I know part of that is simply a characteristic of the way Japanese speak, even in other circumstances. They don't say "no," but just continue to say maybe .. forever. That won't do on this subject. And the fact there some academic scholars and a few veterans in Japan who have been blunt about Japanese war crimes is not enough.
It won't do to continue to walk some delicate line in the school textbooks. Journalists and visitors to Japan have repeatedly reported that younger generations of Japanese [perhaps not the best educated ones] are totally unaware of the Japanese role in WW2. They seem to think the war began with [the apparently unprovoked] atomic bombing of Hiroshima. More revealing is their war in China from 1931-1945. Japan called it - and may still refer to it- as the "China Incident." That alone should indicate the nature of the problem we are discussing.
But Japan has a problem of its own making. As a government and as a society the Japanese have NEVER been forthright about the horrible atrocities committed as a matter of public policy in WW2, including the Nanking horrors, Unit 731 biological warfare experiments on live subjects, an occupation of China as bad as anything done in Russia by the Nazis, the outrageous abuse of civilian and military prisoners, and the mass murder of Filipinos in Manila. These were not mere "excesses" by "overzealous" local commanders. In contrast to the thorough and complete acknowledgments by the Germans the Japanese still offer official apologies that are barely recognizable as apologies IF you read them carefully enough. I know part of that is simply a characteristic of the way Japanese speak, even in other circumstances. They don't say "no," but just continue to say maybe .. forever. That won't do on this subject. And the fact there some academic scholars and a few veterans in Japan who have been blunt about Japanese war crimes is not enough.
It won't do to continue to walk some delicate line in the school textbooks. Journalists and visitors to Japan have repeatedly reported that younger generations of Japanese [perhaps not the best educated ones] are totally unaware of the Japanese role in WW2. They seem to think the war began with [the apparently unprovoked] atomic bombing of Hiroshima. More revealing is their war in China from 1931-1945. Japan called it - and may still refer to it- as the "China Incident." That alone should indicate the nature of the problem we are discussing.
# posted by 
: 26 April, 2005 03:25
: 26 April, 2005 03:25
Yeah, I'm not going to defend/sugarcoat Japan's past brutality. I just think the notion that China is trying to call them on it is both supremely hypocritcal and deceptive, especially when you consider the ongoing brutality in China compounded with their own misleading portrait of history.
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