It's time to turn down the rhetoric on the 70th
Before moving to China, I admit that I knew very little about its wartime history. I knew that China had been engaged in a long-running battle with the Japanese, while at the same time dealing with its own civil war between the KMT and the Communists. But it wasn't until I came here and really started to try to learn more about that period in time that I truly began to discover the brutality that the Japanese troops employed on the people here. From chemical weapons experiments in Manchuria to forced sexual slavery to mass murder, the Japanese of the day were ruthless in their quest to 'bring order to East Asia.' Anyone who denies these acts took place is sadly misinformed. And of course, when recounting these atrocities, most people's minds invariably drift toward the Nanking Massacre.
But what has become troubling over the years is the quibbling between Japan and China over the numbers. Putting aside those who believe the massacre didn't take place, the number of deaths 70 years ago in Nanjing generally ranges anywhere from 40,000 from the conservative elements in Japan to over 300,000 as the official figure by the Chinese government. That's all fine and good. Given the fact that many of the birth records were destroyed in the over 6 week siege of the city, the main evidence has been drawn from captured Japanese military records and eyewitness accounts of both survivors and the foreigners who set up the Nanking Safety Zone. And, in my estimation, as far as history is concerned, we will never know the exact number of deaths. But what gets my dander up is when the Chinese government refuses to budge on its contention of over 300,000.
I've never attempted to research historical documents or done a population analysis of Nanjing in 1937 to determine the number of deaths. As such, I'm not in a position to say one way or the other whether or not the figure of over 300,000 deaths is accurate or not. And to be quite frank, 70 years later, the numbers - not to sound sadistic - don't really matter that much anymore. The main point today is that the world acknowledges that a brutal display of humanity took place.
Of course, most independent observers recognize that China uses events like the Nanking Massacre as a propaganda tool to whip up nationalism. The question is: Is the government trying to stoke an anti-Japanese sentiment or is it just trying to rally its people behind a unifying cause, and make them forget about all the other crappy things the CPC government has done to them over the years? I would argue for the latter. I believe this government really does want to strengthen its political relationship with Japan. For China, Japan is an important trading partner, and has strategic links with the United States. And if the dookie ever hits the rotary blades over Taiwan, the CPC is going to need to have close dialogue with Japan to keep that country out of the brewhaha. However, every time the CPC commemorates a wartime anniversary or reads about some low level Japanese politician making some small statement about comfort women, it fires out venomous language that only the communist world can come up with. As such, it creates anti-Japanese sentiment as a by-product, something I truly believe this government doesn't want to foster.
As such, if I were living in Zhongnanhai, I'd be carefully considering my language options when it comes to its past with Japan. Slap a pacifist long enough, and eventually that Quaker isn't going to quake any longer. And the CPC should recognize that even though it's got a powerful country under its control, when it comes to powerful buddies in their respective corners, Japan takes the cake hands down.
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"...or is it just trying to rally its people behind a unifying cause, and make them forget about all the other crappy things the CPC government has done to them over the years?..."
"rally its people behind a unifying cause" is correct, however, they have done that since the founding of the new China, not just today.
"make them forget about all the other crappy things the CPC government has done" is typical Western propaganda BS IMHO. Sorry, but that's just what it is. What are the facts behind this claim? If it works, wouldn't you think that they should do that all the time? Why just recently? What "crappy things" have the CCP done lately that need to be covered up?
Have you ever thought about that maybe the anti-Japanese sentiments among the people are spontaneous, the government had no choice but to side with the people by reacting angrily so it can keep it's own legitimacy? If you can't provide evidence to eliminate such possibility, then your original argument is highly questionable.
"I believe this government really does want to strengthen its political relationship with Japan. For China, Japan is an important trading parblades over Taiwan, the CPC is going to need to have close dialogue with Japan to keep that country out of the brewhaha."
yes, China wants to strengthen relationship with Japan,and Japan needs to, because national interest is the priority of any international collaboration. And strategical relationship of any countries changes.But it doesn't mean the chinese government put on two faces towards Japanese government and chinese people. There is no evidence that chinese government implant the Nanking massacre into every chinese's brain by force. It is the comfort woman , the disabled soiders, and the people witnessed the killing and raping of their mom,and the brothers and sisters saw in person their siblings cut in to two pieces.The pain can not be erased, and those people have to tell their family history to their kids generation by generation, that's how we learn it, except for learning from history books in school.
Like you said in your post, the number is not the most important thing, but everybody have to remember "a brutal display of humanity took place", why we have to remember it , that's the answer why we learn history, to learn from the experiences and prevent it from happening again.
Actually, as a government employee, I have more inside information than you. The government decided before this year's anniversary of the Manking Massacre, No official commemorative activities, from what you write , the chinese government can just using this as a way of unifying its people anyway.But there are various of activities, cause it is the people suffered wants chinese people to remmember.
I don't know wether you have visited Yasukuni Shrine, if not,Let me tell you something, they name the Nanking Massacre as an incident on the wall.By any standard, It is not just an incident. I think it is not fair to those people who suffered. For them, or let's say for most chinese people, they believe that they can not prevent the anti-japanese war from happening, but they just want people give it a fair recognization. For those who think we chinese and the government just create The Nanking Massacre for its own use really need to talk to the people who experienced the massacre,then you will believe that they are not liar. and you should question your government too , why they hide such an improtant fact from its people?
I agree with parts of your post.
Overall, the line between honoring and remembering a war-time massacre and using it for propaganda purposes is a very thin.
While the government may have made many mistakes, this is one incident where I'm willing to give them a pass. What happened in Nanking was a massacre - no two-ways about it. China was the victim of a Japanese aggressor, and suffered as a result. If this dips a little bit into nationalism, then so be it.
At the end of the day, you're right, China needs Japan, and vice versa. Because of this, I don't expect the Chinese government to go overboard, and I haven't seen any evidence that they have.
How often do you hear the Israeli government accused of stoking nationalism in order to distract its citizens from its unpleasant little crimes because it keeps the memory of the Holocaust alive?
Anonymous:
"rally its people behind a unifying cause" is correct, however, they have done that since the founding of the new China, not just today.
Actually, the PRC government was unwilling to talk about specific Japanese outrages for decades and I doubt you can find a single quote from Mao Zedong or Zhou Enlai where they talk about the Nanking massacre. The museum to commemorate the Nanking massacre is from the 80s
If you can't provide evidence to eliminate such possibility, then your original argument is highly questionable.
Are you asking Cam to prove a negative. Sorry, sir, but the burden of proof is on you.
Amban,
The burden of proof is on all of us when we make an argument. I was simply pointing out the hole in Paul's argument.
While covering this subject, the Western "specialists" often only give you two possibilities, 1) The Chinese government uses these historical events to stir up nationalism, 2) The Chinese government intentionally stoke the anti-Japanese feelings to divert people's attentions from the mistakes the government makes.
They conveniently left out the third scenario, which is the most important one, that these anti-Japanese sentiments are caused (and later stoked) by the actions of the Japanese government and politicians rather than the Chinese government. After all, it was the Japanese government who committed these heinous crimes and later tried to whitewash history by revising the textbooks, it was the Japanese politicians who visited the shrine and denied the existence of "comfort women."
These anti-Japanese sentiments could easily get out of control and cause problems for the government. On one hand the CCP could lose legitimacy if they don't respond and side with the people, on the other by responding too loud could hurt Sino-Japanese relations. It's a delicate balancing-act, which explains why their volume is sometimes louder and sometimes lower.
One more thought.
Think about it, there are three parties in the controversy - ordinary Chinese, the Chinese government and the Japanese government (and politicians). Now take a look at argument 1) and 2) I outlined above, either way, the Chinese government is the culprit. It's a masterpiece of spin which makes the party who is caught in the middle (Chinese government) look like the bad guy.
China Daily still has a lot to learn from the Western medias.
And, after the spin:
- the innocent victim (Chinese people) becomes the tool of the government.
- the one who is caught in the middle (Chinese government) becomes the culpirt.
- the culprit (Japanese government and politicians who caused the trouble in the first place) becomes the innocent.
Can't get any better than this.
77:
Thanks a lot for the comments. I agree with you fully that the Yasakuni Shrine does, in fact, label the Nanking Massacre as the Nanking 'Incident.' And as abhorent as it may sound, it is not fully incorrect. China and Japan did not formally declare war on one another until 1941. As such, much like the United States did during the Korean war, the Japanese did not use the term 'war' in its occupation of China. In the United States, the Korean war was called a 'police action' because then president Truman didn't want to try to get a formal declaration of war from the US Congress, which might not have given it. Instead, the US sent troops under the term 'police action.' Same with Vietnam before a formal declaration of war was made. And, as such, given the fact that the Nanking Massacre took place before 1941, it is technically correct to refer to it as an incident. And don't for a second think that I am agreeing with the terminology. I'm just pointing out what the reasoning is behind it.
Anon:
Thanks for the comments. Always appreciate hearing the opposite point of view. As for what the CCP (CPC in today's style) has done to the Chinese population recently... well... let's see.. it hid the SARS outbreak from the people, leading to countless deaths. It forcefully displaced people from their homes to build Olympic venues and the 3 Gorges dam. I could continue, but there really is no point. The main thing to remember is that all the good things that you are hearing or reading in the Chinese media is just that, all the good things. Criticism of the government is only allowed when the government says it is. So be wary of the lack of negative information about the Chinese goverment. And, please, I'm begging you, try to realize that there is a difference between the Chinese people and the Chinese government. Far too often I find that Chinese people take great offense and feel that a critique of their government is an attack on the Chinese people. As much as Mao would have wanted it, the CPC is not China. It merely controls it for the time being!
Paul,
Thank you for the response. I am glad that you appreciate opposite point of view, it will only make this blog more popular.
All the problems you mentioned are absolutely true. However, none of these problems (handling of the SARS and AIDS outbreak, evictions etc.) are imminent threats to the CCP rule. They have other tools (such as censorship) for that other than stirring up nationalism. The number one problem people have with the government is corruption (overtaken by inflation problem recently), which is being addressed by the government at the moment. Whether it's effective or not is another question, people understand it takes time. So you see there is no imminent threat to their rule.
If you read my comments carefully, you would have noticed clearly that I treated the Chinese government, the Chinese people and Japanese government separately, they were treated as different parties in my argument. I wasn't here to defend the government in general, I was here to argue the role they played in the anti-Japanese controversy.
I was trying to be sarcastic when I mentioned China Daily, of course China Daily is crap. No educated person in China would take what the Chinese media says at face value, just ask around if you don't believe me.