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Did this jump out at anyone? > he praised the creation of a holiday dedicated to the Second World War: “Victory Day of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance A

Did this jump out at anyone? > he praised the creation of a holiday dedicated to the Second World War: “Victory Day of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.” Is explicitly calling out Japan (or other countries) typical for contemporary Chinese propaganda? From my understanding, relations between China and Japan are not exactly friendly, but this seems a step towards inoculating the population with a villain-like image of Japan (if it does not exist already). What with praising Putin vis-a-vis Ukraine, territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and Japan's increasing offensive military capability, I hope this isn't setting the stage for a horrific showdown in the future.

LLWM 12y ago
It's an accurate description. What do you want them to do? Pretend WW2 didn't happen? Pretend that Germany or Italy sent significant amounts of troops to invade China?
- jallmann 12y ago
  They can certainly memorialize the event, but explicitly putting the spotlight on the opposition seems quite overt. From a propaganda perspective, it's almost a reminder that the bad guys are still out there. In the US, we don't celebrate "Independence Day From the Usurious British," we just celebrate Independence Day.
  - hawkice 12y ago
    Not a precisely fair comparison, but it's worth noting that Nazis are very much a part of the modern American understanding of Important Events. The Japanese did some horrifying things in WW2 too, not just Nazis. I guess the trouble is, Japan has changed a lot (demilitarized, notably), but since they still technically have an emperor, it's hard to have a good name for WW2 Japan that isn't "Japan".
  - LLWM 12y ago
    Seems quite straightforward to me. China wasn't involved in the larger global conflict, so to them, WW2 was just defending against an attempted conquest by Japan. I don't see aggression as an insult or a comment on the inherent nature of the Japanese, it's just a descriptor of how the war came to be. Much like the US declaring independence. What would you consider a more neutral name?
    - jallmann 12y ago
      Consider the goals of a propaganda machine with respect to naming a holiday. If you wanted to evoke national pride and unity, "Victory Day of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance" describes it perfectly well, and properly taught historical context will fill in the rest. By adding "Against Japanese Aggression", you're dividing attention away from your people and putting focus on the adversary -- a very strong rhetorical device. There is no reason to diminish the initial nationalistic message of the holiday, unless you also want the adversary at the forefront of everybody's thoughts -- an us-versus-them scenario. When people think of Independence Day in the US, we don't immediately think of the British, but rather of our collective accomplishments as Americans in declaring and building our country. Anyway, I had no idea if this style of naming or speech was common in China, which is why I asked -- other responses have addressed the question.
      - LLWM 12y ago
        About as accurately as you yourself have.
  - rakoo 12y ago
    In the US (and in much of the western world), Russia is still the bad guy and is still out there.
snowwrestler 12y ago
China has a nasty opinion of what Japan did to them during WWII, largely because of the nasty things that Japan did to them during WWII. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
MollyR 12y ago
The rape of nanking was absolutely horrific. I don't think its too different from remembering pearl harbor.
- blacksmith_tb 12y ago
  Absolutely. Note that the attack on Pearl Harbor killed about 2,400 people, while high estimates of the death toll for the Nanjing massacre are in the 300,000 range. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre
  - sandstrom 12y ago
    All correct. And to add to it, Nanjing was the China's capital at the time (the Japanese never bombed D.C. after all). This is a description by an American surgeon living in Nanjing at the time (it's horrendous): The slaughter of civilians is appalling. I could go on for pages telling of cases of rape and brutality almost beyond belief. [...] Last night the house of one of the Chinese staff members of the university was broken into and two of the women, his relatives, were raped. Two girls, about 16, were raped to death in one of the refugee camps. In the University Middle School where there are 8,000 people the Japs came in ten times last night, over the wall, stole food, clothing, and raped until they were satisfied. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre To the West's credit, Japan/Germany/US/Britain have mostly moved on from WW2. It's 60+ years ago, and almost everyone alive at the time is dead (except for the US Visa waiver, which still has a question about Nazis)[1]. But, reading about Japanese actions in Nanjing helps understand why there are bad feelings. [1] http://www.usvisalawyers.co.uk/images/I-94thumb.gif http://www.usvisalawyers.co.uk/images/I-94thumb.gif
LiweiZ 12y ago
The lack of understanding of each other and enhanced stereotype caused by this is one important factor here. However, that's the result all sides want to see. Correct or not is not their main concern.
TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago
The PRC often uses (or used, anyway) Japanese war crimes in propaganda, much like the Soviet Union used Nazi war crimes in propaganda. Japan and China, and Japan and Korea, do not get on well. This probably has something to do with Japan having invaded and colonised both countries, committed brutal war crimes, then later denied they took place, honoured war criminals in an official capacity, and failed to teach Japan's imperial past in school such that most Japanese people had no idea that Japan ever did anything wrong.
zghst 12y ago
The relationship with Japan and China definitely has some intense animosity, however Chinese netizens can see far through the propagandist bullshit. In fact, the Chinese love and rave about many aspects of Japanese culture, however only among other Chinese and in comparison of themselves. Explaining China's propagandists and their effectiveness is complicated. They are very effective, but also they really don't have to try hard at convincing the populace, it is much akin to American exceptionalism, except there are racial and cultural tints to it.

LLWM 12y ago

It's an accurate description. What do you want them to do? Pretend WW2 didn't happen? Pretend that Germany or Italy sent significant amounts of troops to invade China?

jallmann 12y ago
They can certainly memorialize the event, but explicitly putting the spotlight on the opposition seems quite overt. From a propaganda perspective, it's almost a reminder that the bad guys are still out there. In the US, we don't celebrate "Independence Day From the Usurious British," we just celebrate Independence Day.
- hawkice 12y ago
  Not a precisely fair comparison, but it's worth noting that Nazis are very much a part of the modern American understanding of Important Events. The Japanese did some horrifying things in WW2 too, not just Nazis. I guess the trouble is, Japan has changed a lot (demilitarized, notably), but since they still technically have an emperor, it's hard to have a good name for WW2 Japan that isn't "Japan".
- LLWM 12y ago
  Seems quite straightforward to me. China wasn't involved in the larger global conflict, so to them, WW2 was just defending against an attempted conquest by Japan. I don't see aggression as an insult or a comment on the inherent nature of the Japanese, it's just a descriptor of how the war came to be. Much like the US declaring independence. What would you consider a more neutral name?
  - jallmann 12y ago
    Consider the goals of a propaganda machine with respect to naming a holiday. If you wanted to evoke national pride and unity, "Victory Day of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance" describes it perfectly well, and properly taught historical context will fill in the rest. By adding "Against Japanese Aggression", you're dividing attention away from your people and putting focus on the adversary -- a very strong rhetorical device. There is no reason to diminish the initial nationalistic message of the holiday, unless you also want the adversary at the forefront of everybody's thoughts -- an us-versus-them scenario. When people think of Independence Day in the US, we don't immediately think of the British, but rather of our collective accomplishments as Americans in declaring and building our country. Anyway, I had no idea if this style of naming or speech was common in China, which is why I asked -- other responses have addressed the question.
    - LLWM 12y ago
      About as accurately as you yourself have.
- rakoo 12y ago
  In the US (and in much of the western world), Russia is still the bad guy and is still out there.

snowwrestler 12y ago

China has a nasty opinion of what Japan did to them during WWII, largely because of the nasty things that Japan did to them during WWII. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

MollyR 12y ago

The rape of nanking was absolutely horrific. I don't think its too different from remembering pearl harbor.

blacksmith_tb 12y ago
Absolutely. Note that the attack on Pearl Harbor killed about 2,400 people, while high estimates of the death toll for the Nanjing massacre are in the 300,000 range. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre
- sandstrom 12y ago
  All correct. And to add to it, Nanjing was the China's capital at the time (the Japanese never bombed D.C. after all). This is a description by an American surgeon living in Nanjing at the time (it's horrendous): The slaughter of civilians is appalling. I could go on for pages telling of cases of rape and brutality almost beyond belief. [...] Last night the house of one of the Chinese staff members of the university was broken into and two of the women, his relatives, were raped. Two girls, about 16, were raped to death in one of the refugee camps. In the University Middle School where there are 8,000 people the Japs came in ten times last night, over the wall, stole food, clothing, and raped until they were satisfied. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre To the West's credit, Japan/Germany/US/Britain have mostly moved on from WW2. It's 60+ years ago, and almost everyone alive at the time is dead (except for the US Visa waiver, which still has a question about Nazis)[1]. But, reading about Japanese actions in Nanjing helps understand why there are bad feelings. [1] http://www.usvisalawyers.co.uk/images/I-94thumb.gif http://www.usvisalawyers.co.uk/images/I-94thumb.gif

LiweiZ 12y ago

The lack of understanding of each other and enhanced stereotype caused by this is one important factor here. However, that's the result all sides want to see. Correct or not is not their main concern.

TazeTSchnitzel 12y ago

The PRC often uses (or used, anyway) Japanese war crimes in propaganda, much like the Soviet Union used Nazi war crimes in propaganda. Japan and China, and Japan and Korea, do not get on well. This probably has something to do with Japan having invaded and colonised both countries, committed brutal war crimes, then later denied they took place, honoured war criminals in an official capacity, and failed to teach Japan's imperial past in school such that most Japanese people had no idea that Japan ever did anything wrong.

zghst 12y ago

The relationship with Japan and China definitely has some intense animosity, however Chinese netizens can see far through the propagandist bullshit. In fact, the Chinese love and rave about many aspects of Japanese culture, however only among other Chinese and in comparison of themselves. Explaining China's propagandists and their effectiveness is complicated. They are very effective, but also they really don't have to try hard at convincing the populace, it is much akin to American exceptionalism, except there are racial and cultural tints to it.