Having lived in Japan for some time, I feel that I understand how the Japanese government is less than perfect.
And after taking many history courses at my Japanese university, I have seen first hand how many Japanese feel about the textbook and other problems.
Which brings me to my point. After the anti-Japan demonstrations -- or riots -- began, I started to think about how many of the Chinese students I have met have very different memories to mine, and I began to wonder if the history taught in China, like that taught anywhere else, was less than complete in a few areas.
With the recent outbreaks in China against Japan, I started to wonder why the Chinese government and people have hard feelings toward Japan over disputed islands.
Is it not true that South Korea, North Korea and Taiwan also claim ownership of these islands?
And why has China not made any complaints until recent years? China, which preaches the status quo on the Taiwan issue, is doing anything but that and trying to drag Japan into a long legal battle over an issue that has been ignored for nearly 50 years.
I suspect that China's recent interest in the islands was sparked by the discovery of oil. I would like to know why China has not said anything to any other nations about these islands.
I would also like to say that I agree with Japan on protecting Japanese people and interests in China. It is clearly China's responsibility to defend the Japanese embassy in China, and it seems fairly obvious to me that China is doing nothing to protect it.
What would China say if Japanese civilians started to attack the Chinese embassy in Tokyo?
What would China say if Japanese citizens took to the streets in protest every time a Chinese person in Japan committed a crime?
I'm thinking of events that took place two years ago where two Chinese students studying in Japan murdered their teacher and their teacher's family in an attempt to gain bank-account information, and how not two weeks goes by without something on the news about a Chinese student committing a violent crime either against another student or a Japanese civilian.
I do, however, agree with Asian nations seeking compensation from the Japanese over the atrocities committed during World War II, and I feel that most Japanese citizens do too.
However, I disagree with the way China and other nations are going about this.
The ordinary Japanese public did not commit the crimes, and the Japanese government did not commit the crimes either. The Japanese Empire, no longer in existence, committed those crimes, and neither Japan nor its people should have to pay for them.
Instead, I feel that these attacks should be aimed at what remains of the empire -- the emperor.
If groups were to seek compensation from the emperor, I feel that they would receive more support from the world, and from Japanese people themselves.
Darin ten Bruggencate
Japan
A failure by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to respond to Israel’s brilliant 12-day (June 12-23) bombing and special operations war against Iran, topped by US President Donald Trump’s ordering the June 21 bombing of Iranian deep underground nuclear weapons fuel processing sites, has been noted by some as demonstrating a profound lack of resolve, even “impotence,” by China. However, this would be a dangerous underestimation of CCP ambitions and its broader and more profound military response to the Trump Administration — a challenge that includes an acceleration of its strategies to assist nuclear proxy states, and developing a wide array
Eating at a breakfast shop the other day, I turned to an old man sitting at the table next to mine. “Hey, did you hear that the Legislative Yuan passed a bill to give everyone NT$10,000 [US$340]?” I said, pointing to a newspaper headline. The old man cursed, then said: “Yeah, the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] canceled the NT$100 billion subsidy for Taiwan Power Co and announced they would give everyone NT$10,000 instead. “Nice. Now they are saying that if electricity prices go up, we can just use that cash to pay for it,” he said. “I have no time for drivel like
Young supporters of former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) were detained for posting the names and photographs of judges and prosecutors believed to be overseeing the Core Pacific City redevelopment corruption case. The supporters should be held responsible for their actions. As for Ko’s successor, TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), he should reflect on whether his own comments are provocative and whether his statements might be misunderstood. Huang needs to apologize to the public and the judiciary. In the article, “Why does sorry seem to be the hardest word?” the late political commentator Nan Fang Shuo (南方朔) wrote
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) reportedly told the EU’s top diplomat that China does not want Russia to lose in Ukraine, because the US could shift its focus to countering Beijing. Wang made the comment while meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on July 2 at the 13th China-EU High-Level Strategic Dialogue in Brussels, the South China Morning Post and CNN reported. Although contrary to China’s claim of neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, such a frank remark suggests Beijing might prefer a protracted war to keep the US from focusing on
RSS