New branches of nationalism in China

Apr 15, 2009

New branches of nationalism in China
By Stephanie Wang

CHANGSHA, China - A recent skirmish over Japanese cherry flowers and a newly published book have prompted a nationwide controversy over growing nationalistic sentiments in the country.

On the scenic campus of Wuhan University in central China, there are over 1,000 Japanese cherry trees. Each spring, the flowering trees become a tourist attraction, but this year the beautiful scene was overshadowed by an unpleasant episode.

On March 21, when two Chinese women, a mother and daughter, were wearing Japanese kimonos and having their pictures taken beside some blossoming trees, a young man shouted at them: "Don't wear a kimono and have pictures taken at Wuda [Wuhan University]! ... Get out, you Japanese in kimono!" As more onlookers joined him to condemn the mother and daughter, they had to flee.

After being reported in the media and on the Internet, the episode quickly escalated into a nationwide debate between journalists, renowned writers and scholars and bloggers. According to a survey carried out by sohu.com, a major Chinese portal website, 51% backed the verbal abuse, while about 47% advocated a more rational expression of nationalism or patriotism.

The Japanese cherry trees at Wuhan University could be called symbols of the tumultuous history between China and Japan.

Shortly before World War II, Japanese troops conquered Wuhan city in October 1938. The campus of Wuhan University was used as a convalescence center for wounded Japanese soldiers. To help ease the homesick - and to show Japan's determination to stay in China forever - the Japanese military authority brought 30 cherry trees from Japan and planted them on the campus.

In 1972, when China and Japan established formal diplomatic ties, then-Japanese prime minister Tanaka Kakuei offered Chinese premier Zhou Enlai 1,000 cherry trees as gifts to symbolize the "friendship of the two peoples, which will last generation after generation". Zhou allocated 50 trees to Wuhan University. On the 10th and 20th anniversaries of Sino-Japanese diplomatic ties, Japanese organizations granted Wuhan University 300 Japanese trees in total. Using seeds from these, more were planted by university gardeners.

So nowadays, the Japanese cherry trees at Wuhan University are either seen as symbols of "national shame" or of "Sino-Japanese friendship", depending on Chinese nationals' point of view.

The kimono episode was by no means an isolated case. It has reminded people of the 2007 debate over whether the dandinghe or red-crowned crane - known as the Japanese crane - should be chosen as the national bird of China. And the 2006 controversy as to whether the Japanese cherry is a symbol of national shame. Not to mention the nationwide anti-Japanese protests in 2005 marking the 60th anniversary of the nation's hard-won victory against the Japanese invasion.

Chinese people in general take pride in that fact that the country has been growing increasingly stronger. Nationalistic or patriotic sentiments grow with this pride, particularly among the young. Such nationalistic zeal could be easily start anti-Japanese sentiments, not only because of the historical feuds but also because Japanese leaders have not made a sincere apology for the war.

Former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi paid tribute annually to the Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to the kami (spirits) of soldiers and others who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan. Not to mention China's sovereignty dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu islands (called Senkaku in Japanese) and gas and oil resources in the East China Sea.

If anyone in China, especially celebrities, dares to test these nationalistic sentiments, they find themselves quickly and fiercely denounced. Tang Wei, an actress in the spy thriller Lust, Caution, was blacklisted by Chinese media shortly after its release because she played a college girl in love with a Chinese collaborator with the then Japanese occupiers.

Two internationally renowned movie stars, Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li, were once labeled as "national traitors", because they played geishas in Memoirs of a Geisha, a blockbuster movie with an international profile. Even worse, the then up-and-coming star Zhao Wei was condemned as "a national sinner not to be forgiven for thousands of years", because she donned a Japanese military flag for a fashion shoot. People even threw feces at the much-adored "Little Swallow" (a role she played in a popular TV drama series) during a performance.

Edward Friedman, an expert on Chinese nationalism at the University of Wisconsin, has said that when Deng Xiaoping came to power in 1977, "anti-Japan nationalism became a great legitimating glue to hold the society together". With an education system that highlights the era of foreign invasion as humiliating, patriotic sentiment flares up whenever Chinese citizens feel that their motherland's dignity has been violated.

And in this regard, Japan is not the only target of the growing nationalistic sentiments in China.

The United States has been seen as a long-standing culprit, as bilateral relations have never been short of drama. There have been incidents such as the US missile attack on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in 1999 and the air collision between a Chinese F-8 fighter and a US EP-3 spy plane in 2001. Last year, shortly before the Beijing Summer Olympic Games, when Free Tibet protests dogged the Olympic torch relay, many Chinese became very angry with what they said was bias in the Western media.

A group of Chinese overseas intellectuals set up the anti-cnn.com website, "to expose the lies and distortions in the Western media". Supported by volunteers, the website still thrives.

Coincidentally, the kimono incident happened about the same time as the launch of a best-selling book entitled China Is Unhappy (with Western influence). The book calls for a radical change in the country's current foreign and related domestic policy. This book is regarded as a follow-up to China Can Say No (to Western influence), which has sold more than 7 million copies since its publication in 1996.

Both discussions of the kimono incident and the book are parts of the current nationwide debate over nationalism. It is good to see that rational thinking against narrow-minded nationalism or xenophobia is not lacking in the debate.

Zhou Yunqing, a sociology professor with Wuhan University, said: "Beautiful Japanese cherry flowers are a common wealth of humankind. Plants are innocent ... Although there are some inharmonious notes in Sino-Japanese relations, we must have foresight."

Likewise, public responses to China Is Unhappy are also mixed. Radical supporters regard it as a perfect expression of nationalism. Other commentaries say the book gives full vent to Chinese nationalistic zeal and anger over Western bias in a superficial and arrogant way.

Liberals do not have much time for the book. Shen Dingli, deputy dean of the International Relations Department at Fudan University in Shanghai, has argued that the book is "too extremist and nationalistic". Shi Yinhong, professor of Renmin University in Beijing, thinks the book is full of criticism but lacks "constructive suggestions".

The Chinese government also has shown concern over the book, afraid it will give ammunition to the "China threat" theory. After all, China's aim is to rise peacefully. Nevertheless, Wang Xiaodong, a long-established nationalist and a co-author of the controversial book, has expressed contentment that a book with all this rage and criticism towards the government can be published.

Yet others see the publication not as a message of a freer press, but that the main argument of the book is more a defense of China's existing institutions than an attack on them.

Nationalism poses challenges not only for China but also for the West in coming to terms with a rising and less docile China. But unless Beijing subtly holds the force of nationalism in check, it may backfire some day.

Stephanie Wang is a freelance contributor based in Changsha, China.

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