Since the June 1989 Tienamin Square protests, riots are a rare thing in China. In 1999 a series of violent protests occurred in response to the accidental US attack on China's embassy in Belgrade. The April 2005 riots were driven by something more emotional and less tangible: a new spirit of Chinese patriotism.
First some background: China and Japan never had what might be regarded as very cordial relations. In 1931 Japan invaded the northern Chinese province of Manchuria, and by 1943 Japan controlled most of China. After the second world war, Jpanan supported anti-communist forces in China to the limited extent its US occupiers allowed. As Japan evolved as a democracy and China evolved as a Soviet ally, a unique version of the Cold War played itself out along the frontier. When Japan emerged as the model that led much of Asia into economic development, the irony was not lost on China. Some theorists assert Japan's pre-eminence spurred China to increase its industrialization process to present itself as an alternative development model.
With the sixtiieth anniversary of the end of the second world war rapidly approaching and with the ongoing discussions to add new permanent members to the UN Security Council, the China/Japan rivalry gained new momentum. Japan and Germany are serious contenders for the new seats. China already is a permanent member. The prospect Japan might have the same veto power China has might be a bit too threatening for Chinese nationalists.
As part of its Security Council charm offensive, Japan introduced new versions of its history textbooks recently. The new texts describe the second world war and Japan's occupation of most of Asia in very limited terms. The new editions met with protests from Japan's former colonies across Asia, but no one seems as deeply offended as China. From China's angle, the new texts are not repentent enough and do not recognize the bad parts of Japanese imperialism. While that is true to a certain extent, it hardly justifies taking to the streets and vandalizing Japan's embassy.
Nevertheless on 9 April Chinese students took to the streets and unleashed their rage by hurling stones at the building and its employees. The result was some injured diplomats and many broken windows. Japanese officials including the foreign minister demanded an apology. As of the time of writing, China offered none and seems quite unlikely to offer any concessions that even remotely tend towards apology. This flood of Chinese nationalism must be stemmed before it causes damage worse than some broken windows.
Go To Page: 1 2
