Japan needs to halt fanatic nationalistic sentiment
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On Saturday, thousands of protestors marched through the streets, both in Japan and China. This is a new development in the two countries' longstanding spat over the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands.
Although both countries' nationalists were in the spotlight, thanks to numerous reporters who uploaded live photos and articles and stirred up further controversy through online discussion, both episodes seemed to have ended differently.
During the anti-Japan rallies in 2005 in China, staged in major cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing, a certain level of anxiety was created after a handful of radical protestors smashed Japanese-branded restaurants and shops. There were concerns that Chinese nationalism might spin out of control in some extreme cases in the future.
Quite contrary, since 2005, Chinese people and the government have been increasingly able to properly handle demonstrations.
People have more ways to express themselves and it is easier to cushion nationalist pressure.
Violence has been rare during this time and it seems that most of Chinese no longer resort to radical nationalism when China's foreign interests become compromised.
It was unthinkable five years ago that netizens openly questioned the motives of the nationalists or op-posed them. Chinese people now are confident enough to tolerate different points of view.
The reason may lie in China's confidence brought on by economic growth, which helps to trivialize the hostility of foreign powers. The Chinese public is maturing.
Meanwhile, it turns out that Japan has become progressively radical.
At a time when Japan's economic position is threatened by China in terms of the size of its GDP, it is understandable that a group of Japanese nationalists would become even more malevolent and ill-tempered.
Japan should pay attention to the its nationalists' growing resentment over both China and Japanese government. They think that China is devouring Japan and the Japanese government is doing nothing to stop it. In fact, this sentiment, which of course departs from the truth, jeopardizes bilateral relations as well as Japan's own internal stability.
Japanese authorities should prevent a handful of vociferous extremists from hijacking public opinion. It is true that thanks to its long-standing adherence to democratic values, Japan is a pluralized country that allows even the most extreme thoughts.
But it is worrisome that the Japanese government is likely to gravitate to political expedients for maximizing partisan interests, which often succumb to the pressure of extremists in order to win marginal votes.
The Japanese government should especially refrain from taking advantage of such nationalist sentiments. The antagonism toward each other often undermines foreign relations and commercial links between the two countries.
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