New branches of nationalism in China
By Stephanie Wang
CHANGSHA, China - A recent skirmish over Japanese cherry flowers and a newly
published book have prompted a nationwide controversy over growing
nationalistic sentiments in the country.
On the scenic campus of Wuhan University in central China, there are over 1,000
Japanese cherry trees. Each spring, the flowering trees become a tourist
attraction, but this year the beautiful scene was overshadowed by an unpleasant
episode.
On March 21, when two Chinese women, a mother and daughter, were wearing
Japanese kimonos and having their pictures taken beside some blossoming trees,
a young man shouted at them: "Don't wear a kimono and have pictures taken at
Wuda [Wuhan
University]! ... Get out, you Japanese in kimono!" As more onlookers joined him
to condemn the mother and daughter, they had to flee.
After being reported in the media and on the Internet, the episode quickly
escalated into a nationwide debate between journalists, renowned writers and
scholars and bloggers. According to a survey carried out by sohu.com, a major
Chinese portal website, 51% backed the verbal abuse, while about 47% advocated
a more rational expression of nationalism or patriotism.
The Japanese cherry trees at Wuhan University could be called symbols of the
tumultuous history between China and Japan.
Shortly before World War II, Japanese troops conquered Wuhan city in October
1938. The campus of Wuhan University was used as a convalescence center for
wounded Japanese soldiers. To help ease the homesick - and to show Japan's
determination to stay in China forever - the Japanese military authority
brought 30 cherry trees from Japan and planted them on the campus.
In 1972, when China and Japan established formal diplomatic ties, then-Japanese
prime minister Tanaka Kakuei offered Chinese premier Zhou Enlai 1,000 cherry
trees as gifts to symbolize the "friendship of the two peoples, which will last
generation after generation". Zhou allocated 50 trees to Wuhan University. On
the 10th and 20th anniversaries of Sino-Japanese diplomatic ties, Japanese
organizations granted Wuhan University 300 Japanese trees in total. Using seeds
from these, more were planted by university gardeners.
So nowadays, the Japanese cherry trees at Wuhan University are either seen as
symbols of "national shame" or of "Sino-Japanese friendship", depending on
Chinese nationals' point of view.
The kimono episode was by no means an isolated case. It has reminded people of
the 2007 debate over whether the dandinghe or red-crowned crane - known
as the Japanese crane - should be chosen as the national bird of China. And the
2006 controversy as to whether the Japanese cherry is a symbol of national
shame. Not to mention the nationwide anti-Japanese protests in 2005 marking the
60th anniversary of the nation's hard-won victory against the Japanese
invasion.
Chinese people in general take pride in that fact that the country has been
growing increasingly stronger. Nationalistic or patriotic sentiments grow with
this pride, particularly among the young. Such nationalistic zeal could be
easily start anti-Japanese sentiments, not only because of the historical feuds
but also because Japanese leaders have not made a sincere apology for the war.
Former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi paid tribute annually to the
Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to the kami (spirits) of soldiers
and others who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan. Not to mention
China's sovereignty dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu islands (called Senkaku
in Japanese) and gas and oil resources in the East China Sea.
If anyone in China, especially celebrities, dares to test these nationalistic
sentiments, they find themselves quickly and fiercely denounced. Tang Wei, an
actress in the spy thriller Lust, Caution, was blacklisted by Chinese
media shortly after its release because she played a college girl in love with
a Chinese collaborator with the then Japanese occupiers.
Two internationally renowned movie stars, Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li, were once
labeled as "national traitors", because they played geishas in Memoirs of a
Geisha, a blockbuster movie with an international profile. Even worse,
the then up-and-coming star Zhao Wei was condemned as "a national sinner not to
be forgiven for thousands of years", because she donned a Japanese military
flag for a fashion shoot. People even threw feces at the much-adored "Little
Swallow" (a role she played in a popular TV drama series) during a performance.
Edward Friedman, an expert on Chinese nationalism at the University of
Wisconsin, has said that when Deng Xiaoping came to power in 1977, "anti-Japan
nationalism became a great legitimating glue to hold the society together".
With an education system that highlights the era of foreign invasion as
humiliating, patriotic sentiment flares up whenever Chinese citizens feel that
their motherland's dignity has been violated.
And in this regard, Japan is not the only target of the growing nationalistic
sentiments in China.
The United States has been seen as a long-standing culprit, as bilateral
relations have never been short of drama. There have been incidents such as the
US missile attack on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in 1999 and the air
collision between a Chinese F-8 fighter and a US EP-3 spy plane in 2001. Last
year, shortly before the Beijing Summer Olympic Games, when Free Tibet protests
dogged the Olympic torch relay, many Chinese became very angry with what they
said was bias in the Western media.
A group of Chinese overseas intellectuals set up the anti-cnn.com website, "to
expose the lies and distortions in the Western media". Supported by volunteers,
the website still thrives.
Coincidentally, the kimono incident happened about the same time as the launch
of a best-selling book entitled China Is Unhappy (with Western
influence). The book calls for a radical change in the country's current
foreign and related domestic policy. This book is regarded as a follow-up to China
Can Say No (to Western influence), which has sold more than 7 million
copies since its publication in 1996.
Both discussions of the kimono incident and the book are parts of the current
nationwide debate over nationalism. It is good to see that rational thinking
against narrow-minded nationalism or xenophobia is not lacking in the debate.
Zhou Yunqing, a sociology professor with Wuhan University, said: "Beautiful
Japanese cherry flowers are a common wealth of humankind. Plants are innocent
... Although there are some inharmonious notes in Sino-Japanese relations, we
must have foresight."
Likewise, public responses to China Is Unhappy are also mixed. Radical
supporters regard it as a perfect expression of nationalism. Other commentaries
say the book gives full vent to Chinese nationalistic zeal and anger over
Western bias in a superficial and arrogant way.
Liberals do not have much time for the book. Shen Dingli, deputy dean of the
International Relations Department at Fudan University in Shanghai, has argued
that the book is "too extremist and nationalistic". Shi Yinhong, professor of
Renmin University in Beijing, thinks the book is full of criticism but lacks
"constructive suggestions".
The Chinese government also has shown concern over the book, afraid it will
give ammunition to the "China threat" theory. After all, China's aim is to rise
peacefully. Nevertheless, Wang Xiaodong, a long-established nationalist and a
co-author of the controversial book, has expressed contentment that a book with
all this rage and criticism towards the government can be published.
Yet others see the publication not as a message of a freer press, but that the
main argument of the book is more a defense of China's existing institutions
than an attack on them.
Nationalism poses challenges not only for China but also for the West in coming
to terms with a rising and less docile China. But unless Beijing subtly holds
the force of nationalism in check, it may backfire some day.
Stephanie Wang is a freelance contributor based in Changsha, China.
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