April 11, 2005

You are on the invidual archive page of Anti-Japan riots in China. Click Simon World weblog for the main page.
Anti-Japan riots in China

The anti-Japan riots in China over the weekend are an indication of both the depths of feeling amongst the Chinese public and the difficulty the Chinese Government is having in putting a lid on the nationalist frenzy it has whipped up. The Government has already put a clamp on official media reports, but modern communication techniques (including BBS and blogs) and hints of official involvement show that even the Government is divided on how to handle this turn of events. Ironically Japan is now demanding an apology from China. On Sunday the riots continued in both Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The US Consul General in Shanghai was worried enough to issue an alert to American citizens. The danger is this snowballs completely out of Beijing's control. Are they willing to take on what they've created?

On the flipside Japan-China friendship groups are staging a counter-offensive.

Other reading

* Plenty of photos (via ESWN) here and photos and news wire reports here.
* Tom points out China's definition of "internal affairs" is very flexible.
* Danwei also has plenty of first-hand photos of the demonstrations. Jeremy also notes hints of official involvement in the riots.
* CDT has a different first-hand account of the protests in Beijing.
* Fons has estimates of the crowds involved.
* Richard isn't impressed by the protests and points to a thought-provoking piece by the CSM on China-Japan tensions.
* John Ziemba wants to know if Chinese textbooks go into details of the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. Japundit links to an archive detailing the horrors of the Nanjing massacre.
* John Derbyshire has a detailed look at the history of Nationalism in Communist China, written in 2001.
* ACB has several important and different points of view on the boiling over of China's cold war, including the possibility of all of this rebounding on China.
* The has more links to reports.
* Kelvin covers the official Chinese media's non-coverage of events.
* In Chengdu the police clamped down hard on the anti-Japanese protesters.
* Fons points to another first hand account of the protests with photos and this conclusion:

Since it is not everyday I watch something that makes the front pages of the international press I find it interesting to compare their reporting with my own impression. My only complaint would be that when it is a large focus on the smashed window, therefore sounding more aggressive than it actually was. This is also the case when it comes to the reported numbers, often citing the highest numbers available, while this was not a very large demonstration.

* The Gaikin Biker notes not all riots are equal in China.


NOTE: Click for more recently updated and ongoing coverage of anti-Japan protests in China, including links to first hand accounts and commentary.

posted by Simon on 04.11.05 at 06:42 PM in the




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反日デモ
Excerpt: Demonstration going on in Beijing, says the Nikkei:

A demonstration was being held on the morning of 9 April in the western part of Beijing t...

Weblog: The White Peril 白禍
Tracked: April 11, 2005 05:49 PM


Chinamerican Threat Roundup 1
Excerpt: This news story recounts recent riots in China over Japanese textbooks. At the Riding Sun (a must-read on Far Eastern affairs), the Gaijin Biker points to a good blog roundup on the anti-Japanese protests at Simon World.
Weblog: Gus Van Horn
Tracked: April 16, 2005 09:41 AM


Comments:

It seems to me that the Chengdu situation is not so much a clampdown as stopping protestors who crossed the line by vandalizing places of commerce. Business is business, after all.

posted by: Kelvin on 04.11.05 at 03:49 PM [permalink]

The Chinese government has been rather hard on Japan for some time, but
especially in recent months. Many Japanese consider the Chinese government
at least an accessory after the fact in the student attacks on the Japanese
Consulate in Shanghai. It is plain to see that the Chinese police aren't
overzealous in putting a stop to the vandalism of Japanese property.

More generally, the Japanese are getting tired of the Chinese government's
selective use of history. The Chinese government is demanding yet another
apology from the Japanese government for the Rape of Nanking and other
acts of Japanese brutality in China before and during World War II.
At the same time, it treats any reference to the more recent, and continuing,
Chinese brutality in Tibet as contrary to the rules of international discourse.

Since Tibet has been incorporated into China, what goes on there is an
internal matter, and foreigners have no right to discuss it.
Many Japanese have lost patience with this one-sided spirit of criticism.
Following is a Japanese comment on the question of relative culpability,
Japanese and Chinese.

http://www.geocities.jp/baud_2005/tx310.html

posted by: japan on 04.30.05 at 12:49 AM [permalink]




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