Flag ripped off Japan envoy's car in Beijing

[steve2470]

Source: BBC

An assailant has snapped the flag off the car of Japan's envoy to Beijing, amid high tension between the nations.

Japanese officials said two cars forced ambassador Uichiro Niwa's vehicle to stop before a man jumped out and snapped off the flag.

The embassy lodged a complaint, and China's foreign ministry was later quoted expressing "deep regret".

The two nations are locked in a bitter row over a small group of islands they both claim in the East China Sea.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19391992

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Chinese government silently abets nationalism at their peril. Could backfire or get out of hand. nt

[Suji to Seoul]

2. Nope. The hatred the Chinese people have for the Japanese runs too deep

The nationalism abetted by the Chinese government is small potatoes. Chinese people loathe Japan with every fiber of their being.

Five years living here I've watched it first hand.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. We saw similar Anti-American instances when the US plan was captured on that island during Bush.

The US embassy or consulate was attacked and police stood by and didn't stop it.

So its not just anti-Japanese, though I'll grant you that the Japanese earned deep enmity by their brutal domination of China in the 1930s and 40s.

[Lasher]

4. Koreans also remember the brutal Japanese occupation.

Bullet holes are still there to be seen in Korean buildings, from strafing by Japanese planes. I have seen them myself near Seoul.

[Art_from_Ark]

5. I think you might be exaggerating a bit

I know quite a few Chinese here in Japan who are married to Japanese, and every one of them has said they prefer Japan, although they do enjoy going back to China for an occasional visit.

[Suji to Seoul]

6. And I live in China. Married to a Chinese national.

Everything I said is accurate.

As for Chinese preferring living outside: 1) Even my wife says China would be great if the people would leave and 2) the biggest critics of China are overseas Chinese nationals, which is why they are called 香蕉人 Xiang Jiao Ren) or "banana people" (same as Oreo or Apple).

[Art_from_Ark]

7. While the Japanese occupation was horrible,

and the Japanese military leaders at the time were being guided by their reptilian brains, the man whose picture hangs prominently in Tiananmen Square, and graces Chinese paper currency, was responsible for far more death and destruction in his own country (up to 40 million deaths) than the Japanese were. That should give today's Chinese reason to hate his guts, yet he is still a revered figure in the country.

[Suji to Seoul]

8. Most people do. Most people hate The Party and call them murderers

But the Chinese mentality is one of patience and harmony. It would take a HUGE shift in attitude to do anything else.

And 40 million is small. That was what died during the Great Leap Backwards (as it is called here) and the Great Chinese Famine. 10 million died in the Cultural Revolution. And Mao ordered .1% of the population executed during Zhen Fan.

Then there was the anti-Rightist campaign, the three anti/five anti campaign and the consolidation of power after 1949.

Most people here accept him as he is. The Party tries to force the idea of Mao being great. Most people, including those in the Army (yes, I know many officers in the PLA here) think Mao was a fool and Deng Xiao Ping was more important to Chinese development, as was Zhou En Lai and Liu Shao Qi.