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Will the majority of China's population ever put history aside when reacting to foreign issues?
Over the recent months, millions of Chinese have protested the need for an attack on the Japanese due to their purchasing of the Senkaku Islands. But clearly this issue is less related to the public's anger at the event and more about the centuries of bad blood that have formed between the two. The occupation of China during WWII and the Mukden Incident still linger with China's youth, and it seems this will only lead to a never ending cycle of small face-offs between them and Japan. The effects of the Cultural Revolution still loom large in China's people, and there doesn't seem to be many signs that they will put past events aside in the future if problems with Japan or other nations they hold a grudge against. One odd example is the fact that China is allowing all European visitors to enter China without a Visa except for Norway due to the fact that Norway awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo for his"long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." What I'm wondering is whether you think any of China's leaders are trying/will try to implement changes to minimize their preconceptions of Japan and others when concerning foreign issues and make future incidents such as these less frequent?
Joshua Kloppers
I was suprised
Barry Palmer 50+
I have been taught that the Chinese, like many Asian cultures, revere the past. As long as this reverence persists, they will continue to CONSIDER history when reacting to foreign affair issues. I doubt very much that they will allow historical matters to impinge on their current self interest. Angry words over historical matters do not necessarily influence the large amount of trade between Japan and China.
John Smith 30+
Who says they haven't already? We didn't see 600 million Chinese protest so for all we know the protestors we did see were part of a tiny minority that the Chinese government wants to highlight to increase the pressure on Japan? In any case the Chinese government is actively involved in promoting anti-Japanese sentiments, making it harder for these sentiments to die out.
Salim Solaiman 50+