I'm not liking the fact that there are Chinese Canadians and Americans protesting against Japan. I realize the Japanese committed a number of atrocities many years ago, but these protests are really a step backward in terms of developing a united front as Asian Canadians and Americans in a society that doesn't really differentiate between Chinese, Japanese or any other Asian ethnicity when they discriminate. Our fighting each other weakens us when we need to support each other. It also creates hostilities against innocent Japanese Americans and Canadians. Most of the people guilty of the torturing, genocide, and other war crimes are no longer a threat (OK most of them are dead of old age). But these protests most certainly threaten the safety of innocent people of Japanese ethnicity. Sure the Japanese government could maybe cough up a stronger apology, but these protests in my humble opinion are doing more harm than good when we've got our own fights for justice on this side of the Pacific. Here's a (poorly written) article on one protest
It starts out with "VANCOUVER, United States (AFP) - Hundreds of Asian-Canadians... " -- Since when was Vancouver, BC, CANADA part of the fucking United States? Wishful thinking for some I'm sure, but TRY AGAIN !! WTF! Oh and one more thing, that crazy protest photo is really misleading - it's a crowd in Shanghai, NOT in Vancouver as you realize after reading the 6pt font. Bastards!
4 comments:
It's true that all Asians should present a united front and concentrate on issues that affect all of us in the present.
The problem lies in how the Japanese government has never come to terms with their rampage over so many parts of Asia, and the way they whitewash everything so that post-war generations don't even understand the severity of these aggressions. When I lived in Japan, it was my personal experience that most Japanese I met were not fully informed about the historical facts of WWII. As well, when I visited the war museum in Hiroshima, the entire exhibit was so biased and tried to redirect focus, as to make visitors believe that Japan and its citizens were merely victim of war and nothing more! (ie/ Only showed pictures/clothes of women and children charred from the bomb, without showing or mentioning the Japanese soldiers that were killed, or even mentioning that Hiroshima contained a lot of munitions plants, etc.).
Prime Minister Koizumi annually visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where Class-A war criminals are enshrined (ie/ Hideki Tojo). Could you imagine the Chancellor of Germany erecting and paying homage to a shrine to Hitler in Berlin?
It's 'silly' things like these, that make it hard for the rest of Asia to forget and focus on the future, I think...
JON
Hi Van. thanks for dropping by my blog! i'm doing my m.a in child and youth care counselling.
did any of your friends/family participate in the protest?
We should have a festival at the Sun Yat Sen gardens and have a mass hanging session for Kerokerokeroppi, Hello Kitty and that little fat fuck of a cartoon character Pokemon. Ummm...just kidding -- totally agree with you. The Chinese Empire should just get over itself and its Middle Kingdom name.
Hrm.
Where hath you gone? I'm going through withdrawl :)
Hope all is well!
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