Thousands join anti-Japanese rally

[Quote] SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- About 5,000 people have launched an anti-Japanese protest march in Shanghai, heading in the direction of Japan's Consulate despite government warnings against threatening social order and relations with Tokyo.

The group sang the national anthem and waved leaflets saying "Boycott Japanese Goods" as they set out from People's Square on Saturday, the city's central plaza in front of City Hall, marching west in the direction of the consulate.

Several hundred police watched the marchers but didn't try to stop them, despite warnings this week against taking part in unauthorized protests. Officers didn't answer when asked whether the marchers had received official permission.

In Beijing, hundreds of police stood guard on Tiananmen Square, where activists also had called for protests. Police stopped people apparently at random to question them and search their bags.

The third weekend of anti-Japanese protests came despite government appeals to the public to trust the Communist Party to handle relations with Tokyo.

Some have suggested that Beijing was trying to use the earlier unrest to Tokyo's bid for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat.

Japan's foreign minister was preparing to fly to Beijing for talks aimed at defusing the tensions.

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have plunged to their lowest point in decades prompted by disputes over the Security Council, natural gas resources in disputed seas and new Japanese textbooks that critics say minimize Japan's wartime offenses.

Beijing is alarmed at a proposal to give Japan a permanent Security Council seat. Such status carries veto power over U.N. actions and is now held by only five governments -- China, the United States, Britain, France and Russia.

Last weekend's protests appear to have started with grass-roots nationalist groups, but the Chinese leadership probably decided to let them continue in an effort to derail Tokyo's bid, said Murray Scot Tanner, a China specialist at the Rand Corp. in Washington.

"I think that permitting the demonstrations provides leverage by creating a very public symbol of the depth of anger among the Chinese people toward Japan," Tanner said.

Japanese commentators had similar assessments.

"Obviously, Beijing is seeking to take advantage of the so-called history issue and the anti-Japan protest as a means of discouraging Tokyo from campaigning to gain permanent membership in the council," said the newspaper Yomiuri this week.

Premier Wen Jiabao cited the protests Wednesday when he said during a visit to India that Tokyo wasn't ready for a Security Council seat until it faced up to its history of aggression.

Some Chinese officials, however, have sought to distance the government from the protesters. Beijing is eager to preserve important economic relations with Japan, which has some US$280 million invested in the Chinese mainland.

Japan issued warnings to its citizens in China about possible danger.

In Japan, an envelope containing a razor blade and a note demanding that China stop anti-Japanese protests was sent to a Chinese consulate in Osaka, police said. They said vandals dabbed red paint on the residence of the Chinese ambassador to Tokyo.

The tensions are fueled by both lingering Chinese anger over Japan's wartime aggression and anxieties at Tokyo's new military and diplomatic ambitions, as well as competition for energy. The communist government, having abandoned Marxist ideology for capitalist-style economic reform, has resorted increasingly to promoting ethnic Chinese nationalism to bind the nation together.

But leaders who allowed the latest protests could see them backfire should the public assume that future demonstrations will be allowed, setting up a possible clash with security forces, Tanner said.

"An absolute nightmare for the Chinese government is a photograph of an anti-Japanese protester with blood on him from having been beaten by a Chinese cop," he said.[/Quote]

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I'm sorry China for what you went through during WW2 but it was over 60 years ago I think it's time to forgive,japan is a peacefull democratic country now and they have apologized on countless occasions for the atrocities they did.I think it's time to start focusing on your own communist goverments atrocities to your own people and let things rest between you and Japan.

hmmm from what i know, Japan apologized less than 7 times to china.


I think protest is the only action that allow the chinese people to make their voice heard. This however make the chinese people look bad when they started to turn violent on the Japanese in china.

I think for we human to advance furthermore, we should forgive and let go. Only this can we work together to create a better furture. This however is not as simple as it sound.

Being ethnic Chinese, i would tell you that my grandparents harbour deep, deep resentments of the Japanese even though he lived in Shanghai and experienced little of the real horrors. These rallies however, stem from the launch of a new "revisionist" history textbook in Japan.

The current group is just idealistic youth letting off steam, there numbers arn't that great, mostly uni students. While i'am uneased by the protests, i don't think they will cause too much damage.

Anyway, the Beijing & Guangzhou rallies has being stopped by Police, the CCP won't let this deterioate too far, China needs Japan and Japan needs China. China and Japan share one of the most complementary economies in the world. Only 8% of goods exported are in common.

The Japanese foreign minister is scheduled to meet the Chinese Premier tomorrow. The fact that some of these rallies have turned violent has made alot of ethnic Chinese and Chinese people distance themselves from these rallies.

However, the things that Japan does right now does not help.

For example, this is from inside the Yasakuni shrine that Koizumi visits.

On the Nanjing Massacre where up to 300,000 were killed and 20,000 women were raped.

Instead, these words: "The Chinese were soundly defeated, suffering heavy casualties. Inside the city, residents were once again able to live their lives in peace."

This as opposed to a Japanese veteran's testimony.

By chance I came across this testimony of a Japanese army veteran who was there.

"No matter how young or old, none of the women we rounded up could escape being raped. Each one was allocated to 15 or 20 soldiers for sexual intercourse and abuse."

Afterwards "we always stabbed them and killed them. Because dead bodies don't talk."

Japanese politicians now openly say that the Nanjing Massacre didn't occur, imagine how the Jews would react if German Politicians repeately declare that concentration camps never existed.

BBC Article

I believe the textbooks are not the real cause of the protests. The protests are instigated and condoned by the Chinese authorities because it gives the Chinese government a superior bargaining position for denying Japan a seat at the UN, something which now seems a very legitimate possibility now that the USA has publicly announced its support for such a move. Japan has always had textbooks which gloss over (to say the least) their wartime atrocities. The Chinese government acted quite swiftly and effectively to quell any protests following the incident with the Japanese businessmen "celebrating" the rape of Nanking anniversary with an orgy several years ago, something they are not doing currently.

I find America's cheerleading and prodding to restore the military and geopolitical powers of Germany (remember the US encouraged Luftwaffe actions in Kosovo) and Japan somewhat short sighted, especially in the case of Japan which never truly came to terms with its wartime past. We may benefit in the short term, but when governments change and we find we are not so close to Japan as we currently are, we'll be left with a powerful, remilitarized Japan with a seat in the UN and a very pissed off China.

If it seems China's reaction is bad, wait till the other shoe drops in the Koreas

-koji K.

[edit on 16-4-2005 by koji_K]

[edit on 16-4-2005 by koji_K]

Originally posted by koji_K
I find America's cheerleading and prodding to restore the military and geopolitical powers of Germany (remember the US encouraged Luftwaffe actions in Kosovo) and Japan somewhat short sighted, especially in the case of Japan which never truly came to terms with its wartime past. We may benefit in the short term, but when governments change and we find we are not so close to Japan as we currently are, we'll be left with a powerful, remilitarized Japan with a seat in the UN and a very pissed off China.

A very pissed off China and a powerful Japan that controls 1000 billion of U.S bonds. The U.S would be wrong if it believes it has a "bond" to Japan, if there is one thing that Japanese rightists hate more then Asia, that is the U.S. Japan knows that it needs to U.S to become a military power again, but once it achieves that goal, the U.S won't be needed.

Yes, i agree that the U.S foreign policy has always lacked the big picture ever since World War 2.

The U.S always likes to pit one group against another.

Eg.
Mujahaddin against Russians.
China against Russians.
etc etc.

Interesting take on Japanese ambition.

I agree that the US is being a bit short sighted in Japans case. However, do you really think they would cut ties with the US like that? Even if they did become so powerfull, what purpose would it serve? Japan will never be able to over come US might - they simply don't have the population or the natural resources.

So why would they cut ties with the US, who they need to take on China?

Originally posted by American Mad Man
Interesting take on Japanese ambition.

I agree that the US is being a bit short sighted in Japans case. However, do you really think they would cut ties with the US like that? Even if they did become so powerfull, what purpose would it serve? Japan will never be able to over come US might - they simply don't have the population or the natural resources.

So why would they cut ties with the US, who they need to take on China?

The trick is that if China-Japan relationship were to improve. While it looks nearly impossible that China-Japan relations would improve right now, it's not impossible in the future.

A Japan-China-United Korea(unified by South) alliance in the future would test things out, of course, i'am looking things in perhaps 20 years time.

The Irony being that China would never have pushed Japan to rearm, but since the U.S would be doing that, once Japan does rearm, China will have to deal with it. China will deal with a rearmed Japan in much more friendly terms out of pure necessity.

I think this stuff is being subtly encouraged by the Chinese government, as a bargaining chip in negotiations. The political power of the right in Japan is somewhat exaggerated, for example the text in question is being used in only 18 Japanese schools. Most Japanese seem to realize that they've had a lot better results from peaceful trade than they did when they tried imperialist expansionism. The Japanese teacher's union is famously left wing and anti-nationalist, and in most Japanese schools, the curricula and materials are far less exculpatory of Japanese actions in WW2.

Nationalist sentiments on both sides are being exploited for domestic political gain, while rights for resource access in the South China Sea are being established. The Chinese ought to be careful to what extent they encourage this, as they might frighten the Japanese into becoming a nuclear power, something they could do in weeks if they wanted. This is definately not something that would be in China's long term strategic interest.

[edit on 16-4-2005 by xmotex]