Nobody suspected a tale of ill repute from behind the walls of this hotel. But in September
2003, this luxury hotel in Zhouhai, southern China became the centre of a huge controversy.
A Japanese tourist group had brought back 500 Chinese prostitutes. In itself this was
nothing unusal, except for the date - 18 September. This was the infamous day in 1931, remembered
by all Chinese, when Japan began her occupation of China.
China was outraged. The scandal brought back memories of the barbaric treatment of Chinese
women during the occupation, when tens of thousands had bee used as prostitutes by Japanese
soldiers. It took more than 50 years for Japan to offer an apology.
Punishment for the Chinese organisers of the orgy, however, were harsh. Two men received
life sentences for their role in the act.
The scandal sparked a huge international crisis.
The recent freeze in diplomacy is a new low in relations between the two countries - stemming
in large part from the governments themselves. But public opinion in both Japan and China
is calling for more harmony.
It is ironic that anti-Japnese feeling is being stirred up, while Chinese history -- and
the death toll of Chinese at the hands of their own government is being glossed over:
It's imossible to justify Japan's refusal to face its Second World War history. The
europeans -- and germans -- have managed that a lot better. But the Chinese, too, aren't
looking at their own bloody past.. We know from the Communist black book that the KPCH
took up to 70 million lives as part of their rise to power. 70 million, that is a lot of people.
It is possible it was only 45, but there is naturally a difference in top estimates.
You simply cannot talk about it in China. There have been no charges broiught, nor even
discussion within the KP about its own role in history. Instead the kp are playing off
old style communism against nationalism. It often reminds me of what happened in the 30's
in Japan. That is, an extreme nationalistic undercurrent, widespread throughout the society.
That is the actual problem, not the few students, who demonstrate power nowadays. This nationalism
is not being reigned in anymore in China. And this nationalism is developing just as
it was in Japan in the 30s and in germany in the 20s and 30s out of economic problems.
And it could gain a foothold very quickly in China.
Japanese historians see little in the controversy. The Japanese emperor himself was jointly responsible
for the nationalism of the 30s, and the imperial wars were no different to those of other colonial
powers.
Japanese incursions into China, and the massacre of thousands of Chinese are even today denied
by many politicians and historians. Events such as the 1937 massacre at Nanking are played
down as minor incidents.
Opposition to this historical falsification has come almost exclusively from abroad -- mainly
China.
A visit by the Japanese political elite to the controversial Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo,
which honours what China considers to be war criminals, was also sharply condemned.
Some protests by Beijing were successful. From the middle of the 90's, Japenese schools
had stopped talking about Nanking, but instead moved to war crimes perpetrated by the Japanese
military. But since the premiership of Koisumi, there has been a swing to the right.
Nowadays only one in eight school books mentions the true number of vicxtims at Nanking.
There is no mention of guilt or atonemnt in any.
There was a war crimes trial in Tokyo like there was in in Nuremberg, but the criminals
were tried by the Allies, not by Japan itself. That is, the topic was quickly supressed.
Japan did not argue with it. That still has a lasting effect today, because the Japanese
see themselves as victim and not as author. While Germany since the War has thought a
lot about the issue, and brought to account those who need to be brought to acccount have
been brought to account. That never happened in Japan and that is one of the big problems.
As long as Koizumi has power here, little is likely to change. In fact, the opposite
is more likely. A small apology to the Chinese has met with a muted response, and the feeling
is Koizumi is hell-bent on a rivalry with China. Shortly before the historic apology,
a Japenese court once again rejected a request for remuneration to Chinese war victims.
Koizumi remains hard, because he believes historical controversy should be focussed
elsewhere in Asia..
Then you can't forget that China wants to be a world superpower and project its strength,
but it is up against another world power in the region. The Japanese have had their postwar
condition that they should not send troops overseas.. But despite this it still has a
very powerful army, the second most powerful army in the world. That's also true of raw
materials, of economic power and is even true of Taiwan . We mustn't forget that Taiwan
is the focus of this whole conflict. The Chinese want to tell the Japanese -- don't support
Taiwan, it's part of our Empire. And that is the crux of this whole affair. In the West
you forget that very quickly, but in Eastern Asia everyone understands.
Taiwan is a hot topic ostensibly because of the vast gas fields nearby -- claimed by both
China and Japan. Both countries are dependent on imports - Japan in particular lacks many
of the raw materials it needs. Experts refuse to rule out Chinese military intervention
in this region.
The Taiwanese conflict could give the new regime the chance to make its mark.
The current change in the Chinese leadership from the old guard of Yang Tse Min - which
still had ties to the civil war -- to the new guard of Hu jintao went smoothly, but
Jintao's position is not yet as strong as those in the west would like to see, and they
are always trying to intervene in China.
Jintao still hasn't injected any power into the military
and the military isn't perfectly under his control. It's always been said that a strongman
has to have a war to bring his army under his control. Mao Tse Tung got involced in
the Korea war, that cost a million Chinese livrs. Many people have forgotten Deng Xiao
Ping attacked Vietnam in the mid/late 70s. Now many military strategists fear Hu Jintao
will use a possible war with Taiwan both to bring his army under his control and, above
all, to strengthen it.
At present there are no serious signs of a military incursion. As such the Beijing Government
is limited to protests. Room for compromise is narrowing day by day. Both China and Japan
fear the crisis could affect their image with international investors and trade partners.
The danger is that the two great asiatic powers could fall into a serious stand-off, where
no-one could predict the consequences.