The Chinese media is now portraying the Google vs. China issue as a political plot by the White House!
While this is technically possible it can't be proven- the paper makes a reference to a meeting between Google and State Department officials prior to Google's anti-censorship/Chinese hacking announcement. Of course the paper has no idea what was actually communicated in this meeting (Google was probably giving the government a courtesy heads up imho) so accusing the White House of controlling Google is about as well founded as the "Iraq is responsible for 9/11 meme."
Of course the irony here is that a government controlled Chinese newspaper is accusing Google of being controlled by the American government. This sort of accusation will probably stick with many Chinese readers because of the paradigm China works under- the Communist Party (and therefore Chinese government) CAN stick its fingers into any company and make purely political decisions so why can't the American government?
Plenty of people in China probably already believed that the US government was behind the Google decision- that the Party decided to put it in print is revealing of how seriously they take the Google affair. The Chinese government is undoubtedly aware that stoking nationalism can have unintended results and they usually only do so for threats to Chinese sovereignty.
Of course the implied next move is that the White House can either confirm or deny these allegations. Denying them puts some distance between the White House and Google's free speech rhetoric while confirming that the White House can order Google around (which is incredibly stupid) would play into Chinese nationalist paranoia in which everyone is trying to keep China down. Of course the other option is to ignore the allegations- which is probably the best move for this incredibly China friendly administration.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Taiwan Up? Who owns English anyway?
Over the last week there's been a flurry of controversy over how Taipei chose to illuminate Taipei 101 for New Year's Eve. Taipei 101 is one of the tallest buildings in the world and every New Year's Eve fireworks are set off from it. This year it also had the proudly displayed slogan of "2010 Taiwan Up." I've barely run into a foreigner in the last week who hasn't been condescendingly amused by the poor grammar and I've hit upon several blogs that are severely critical of the incident. To all of them I have but one message: That fireworks show was not made for you.
Most Tawainese people have a limited command of English. Many can understand a large amount of basic words, "up" being among them. "Up" was written there to give the idea that Taiwan was going to get better and better. The best translation might have been "Taiwan prospers" but that wouldn't have fit on Taipei 101 and most Taiwanese people wouldn't be sure what it meant. But, seeing the phrase "Taiwan Up" makes good enough sense to most Taiwanese people. It was basically using English words in a Chinese way where the central idea of one word automatically adapts to the context of a sentence or to another word around it.
I agree with many foreigners that official English translations in Taiwan are often terrible. When it comes to maps, emergency information, subway instructions, etc etc etc I think the responsible parties should make sure that their translation is accurate but that is not what Taipei 101 was illuminated for- it was there to make its audience happy... an audience of largely Taiwanese people.
English also imparts a notion of cosmopolitanism. There's a magazine in Taichung which has the slogan "Your gateway to the English lifestyle," meaning the language of commerce and travel and mass culture. Even using English instead of Chinese is rife with symbolism; an English speaking Taiwan feels like an important part of the wider world and not just an isolated island in the shadow of China.
With English being the decidedly dominant language in the world diverse groups of people, many of whom have studied it for decades, will use it in ways that are immediately culturally relevant. We shouldn't be offended by other cultures adapting our language to themselves- it's mostly flattering. But once they have English they are free to use it however they want. Language is like open source coding for software- it's free for people enrich their lives as they see fit.
So, in summation, I agree with the city of Taipei. This year I want nothing more than "Taiwan Up."
Most Tawainese people have a limited command of English. Many can understand a large amount of basic words, "up" being among them. "Up" was written there to give the idea that Taiwan was going to get better and better. The best translation might have been "Taiwan prospers" but that wouldn't have fit on Taipei 101 and most Taiwanese people wouldn't be sure what it meant. But, seeing the phrase "Taiwan Up" makes good enough sense to most Taiwanese people. It was basically using English words in a Chinese way where the central idea of one word automatically adapts to the context of a sentence or to another word around it.
I agree with many foreigners that official English translations in Taiwan are often terrible. When it comes to maps, emergency information, subway instructions, etc etc etc I think the responsible parties should make sure that their translation is accurate but that is not what Taipei 101 was illuminated for- it was there to make its audience happy... an audience of largely Taiwanese people.
English also imparts a notion of cosmopolitanism. There's a magazine in Taichung which has the slogan "Your gateway to the English lifestyle," meaning the language of commerce and travel and mass culture. Even using English instead of Chinese is rife with symbolism; an English speaking Taiwan feels like an important part of the wider world and not just an isolated island in the shadow of China.
With English being the decidedly dominant language in the world diverse groups of people, many of whom have studied it for decades, will use it in ways that are immediately culturally relevant. We shouldn't be offended by other cultures adapting our language to themselves- it's mostly flattering. But once they have English they are free to use it however they want. Language is like open source coding for software- it's free for people enrich their lives as they see fit.
So, in summation, I agree with the city of Taipei. This year I want nothing more than "Taiwan Up."
Monday, December 7, 2009
Jinmen Dao
Recently I had the great fortune to spend a weekend on Jinmen Island. It's a political oddity in that it an island that is controlled by Taiwan but most people will admit that it is actually a part of Fujian Province in China. Not only that it- at its nearest point Little Jinmen Island (as opposed to large Jinmen Island, see below) is about eight kilometers away from the Chinese Mainland.
The island is a wonderful, near idyllic, place now but that belies its sordid history. During the Cold War Mainland China chose to bombard the islands with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells resulting in thousands of dead islanders and Nationalist troops. One would think that this would engender a fair amount of animosity towards Mainland China (and one would be right) but life is even more complicated than that. The Jinmen Islanders (and the Matsu Islanders to the north) were not active participants in the Chinese civil war. As the KMT army retreated to Taiwan they militarized the peaceful islands and put the inhabitants into the middle of shooting war. The inhabitants are aware of the pawn that they became between the Nationalists and the Communists and chafed under Marshall Law for many decades. I often asked the locals if they thought they were Taiwanese or Mainlander and I received what became a familiar refrain: I am Jinmenese and my parents are Mainlanders. (Translated, obviously.)
That being said Jinmen is now a thriving community. The Taiwanese army has poured money into the islands and they've been serving as an in between point for the Mainlanders who want to do business in Taiwan and vice-versa. It was, without a doubt, the cleanest place I've visited in Taiwan and the its oft noted wide and well maintained roads are very inviting.
Jinmen also enjoys full county status in Taiwan and elects its own representatives to the Taiwanese parliament. In preparation for an approaching election we were treated to a semi constant barrage of campaign advertising. One of the candidates had bleach blond hair but I think he got stiff competition from another candidate who was always pictured next to a giant hamburger. Was he a hamburger mogul or was he using the hamburger to explain his policies? I'll never know but I hope he was the winner. (Bleach blond Asian dudes sort of creep me out.)
While on the island we visited war memorial after war memorial after war memorial. It was cool! We found an amazing beach that was completely empty. It felt more like being on an unpopulated alien planet than a cold war flashpoint. On the beach we found an awesome tank that was covered in barnacles and no island weekend would've been complete without the land mine warning signs. Jinmen is also famous for a peanut candy and a knives made out of artillery shells. I wanted to buy a knife but I just couldn't figure what I would do with it... oh well, just another reason to return to Jinmen- hopefully with someone who looks better in a bathing suit than Sean.
Below is a temple where you pray for good grades at:
Alone:
If we ever start a band this'll be our first album cover:
Awesome:
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The linguistic battle of wills
A fascinating socio-linguistic phenomenon to observe is the battle of wills between two people who are each trying to practice the others native language. It can happen in any place, at any time, and to nearly anyone.
You could be at the local 7-11 (ok... one of the local 7-11's) buying a bottle of 酒 and instead of quoting the sales price to you in Chinese the tiny and meek attendant slowly but deliberately says "seventy four dollars, please!" followed by the proudest and toothiest (and in Kaohsiung, the reddest) grin you may ever encounter. It's sweet, it's cute, it's wonderful, and it's one of the most annoying things on the face of the Earth.
The linguistic battle of wills occurs most often between foreigners and natives in Taiwan. Some foreigners come to Taiwan hoping to practice Chinese only to discover that an increasing number Taiwanese people want to practice their English with almost anyone who will talk to them.
Imagine being Taiwanese and spending every single year of your school life learning English! Imagine your parents sending you to an English language tutor nearly every day after school! Now imagine that at long last there is a real live American right in front of you that you can finally speak to!
Now imagine your disappointment that he refuses to speak to you in English and insists upon using sub-standard Chinese to communicate the very simplest of ideas.
Of course there's the opposite disappointment of being from the English speaking world. We say goodbye to our family, friends, and dog, fly all the way to Taiwan, enroll in Chinese classes, go out of our way to make Taiwanese friends only to find that our dream of "total language immersion" is impossible because everyone wants to practice English, the language we are trying to escape from!
There's even another layer to it: Taiwanese culture demands a large amount of courtesy be shown to guests and many Taiwanese feel as though all foreigners are somehow guests in their country. In Taiwan, as in much of Asia, the locals don't want to cause the guest a loss of face by speaking to them in a language the guest can't understand; instead of even trying to speak Chinese it's just safer to speak to the guest in English. In most other ways this courtesy is extremely appreciated.
Although there is no strict rule in the West the general convention is to only use one language in a conversation- and whichever language is spoken first should be the language used to respond. If I start a conversation in Chinese and someone insists upon answering me in English they've actually caused me a loss of face; they've just implied that they don't think my Chinese is very good. There's not even a good way to respond because in American culture it's rude for me to tell you that I'd rather you speak Chinese. My Taiwanese friends tell me that it wouldn't be rude in Taiwan but I'm still not comfortable doing it.
Must we be locked in this ridiculous duel for all time? No, probably not. Following the 4th World War of 2038 the majority of survivors will upload themselves into the technological singularity and all of our conversations will look like this:
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
(Good luck babelfish.yahoo.com on that one!)
Note:
Missing is my obligatory swipe at foreigners who are always complaining that Chinese is impossible to learn. Since most Taiwanese people look around and see 20 million Taiwanese people who managed to learn Chinese (plus another billion people across the strait) they can be forgiven for concluding that foreigners suffer from pigment induced, Chinese specific, aphasia.
You could be at the local 7-11 (ok... one of the local 7-11's) buying a bottle of 酒 and instead of quoting the sales price to you in Chinese the tiny and meek attendant slowly but deliberately says "seventy four dollars, please!" followed by the proudest and toothiest (and in Kaohsiung, the reddest) grin you may ever encounter. It's sweet, it's cute, it's wonderful, and it's one of the most annoying things on the face of the Earth.
The linguistic battle of wills occurs most often between foreigners and natives in Taiwan. Some foreigners come to Taiwan hoping to practice Chinese only to discover that an increasing number Taiwanese people want to practice their English with almost anyone who will talk to them.
Imagine being Taiwanese and spending every single year of your school life learning English! Imagine your parents sending you to an English language tutor nearly every day after school! Now imagine that at long last there is a real live American right in front of you that you can finally speak to!
Now imagine your disappointment that he refuses to speak to you in English and insists upon using sub-standard Chinese to communicate the very simplest of ideas.
Of course there's the opposite disappointment of being from the English speaking world. We say goodbye to our family, friends, and dog, fly all the way to Taiwan, enroll in Chinese classes, go out of our way to make Taiwanese friends only to find that our dream of "total language immersion" is impossible because everyone wants to practice English, the language we are trying to escape from!
There's even another layer to it: Taiwanese culture demands a large amount of courtesy be shown to guests and many Taiwanese feel as though all foreigners are somehow guests in their country. In Taiwan, as in much of Asia, the locals don't want to cause the guest a loss of face by speaking to them in a language the guest can't understand; instead of even trying to speak Chinese it's just safer to speak to the guest in English. In most other ways this courtesy is extremely appreciated.
Although there is no strict rule in the West the general convention is to only use one language in a conversation- and whichever language is spoken first should be the language used to respond. If I start a conversation in Chinese and someone insists upon answering me in English they've actually caused me a loss of face; they've just implied that they don't think my Chinese is very good. There's not even a good way to respond because in American culture it's rude for me to tell you that I'd rather you speak Chinese. My Taiwanese friends tell me that it wouldn't be rude in Taiwan but I'm still not comfortable doing it.
Must we be locked in this ridiculous duel for all time? No, probably not. Following the 4th World War of 2038 the majority of survivors will upload themselves into the technological singularity and all of our conversations will look like this:
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
0100001001100101011101110110000101110010011001010010000001110100011010000110010100
10000001110101011011100110001101101100011001010110000101101110
(Good luck babelfish.yahoo.com on that one!)
Note:
Missing is my obligatory swipe at foreigners who are always complaining that Chinese is impossible to learn. Since most Taiwanese people look around and see 20 million Taiwanese people who managed to learn Chinese (plus another billion people across the strait) they can be forgiven for concluding that foreigners suffer from pigment induced, Chinese specific, aphasia.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
簡單 -- Not so simple!
One of my newly arrived friends recently recounted a conversation in one of his adult classes that went something like this:
Adult student 1: What do foreigners think of Taiwanese people?
Teacher: Um... (obvious discomfort) well... I guess lots of different things. Nothing too severe.
Adult student 2: What kind of things? I really want to know.
Teacher: Ok... I guess... maybe sometimes I've heard that some people think that some Taiwanese people can be a little, um, boring?
(The adult students talked among themselves in Chinese for a minute.)
Adult student 1: Yes. That is true. We are very boring.
(Entire class laughs in agreement. American teacher is puzzled and attempts to move on with the lesson.)
After he mentioned this story I began to notice how often I have heard Taiwanese people describe themselves this way. Purely for research purposes I even accessed some Taiwan centric dating websites and was shocked to see how many men and women prefaced their dating profile with "I'm a simple woman with simple dreams looking for a simple man" or something to that effect. (I promise it was mostly, almost, entirely for research purposes.) "Simple," "boring," "ordinary," "pure," or even "naive" seemed to be sought after qualities.
All of the above words are attempts at translating "簡單." It's supposed to communicate a sort of trustworthy ordinariness. When someone describes themselves as "簡單" they are advertising their stability and lack of complications. While both of these qualities can be admirable it is far cry away from what most people boast about back home. In a weird twist many of my adult students all but boast about how little they have to boast about.
Unfortunately "簡單" simply doesn't translate well. When an adult describes themselves as "simple," "naive," "ordinary," or even "pure" the words immediately conjure up an image of a person who is bereft of responsibility and possesses a sort of childlike foolishness- hardly the first impression you want to give.
The best translation I've been able to come up with, accounting for the western cultural preference of exaggerating our uniqueness, is "dependable." Calling yourself "dependable" can emphasize your reliability and implies that you have a routine that you follow- it doesn't mean that you're boring but it does mean that you don't let impulsive flights of fancy disrupt your existence.
I'm afraid cultural differences just don't allow for an exact translation of "簡單" that doesn't make someone sound incredibly boring. Most of my Taiwanese friends don't find "dependable" to be an adequate translation but it's the best I can do. One of my students went so far as to point out, almost passionately, that "You are saying that we shouldn't call ourselves "ordinary" but most of us are ordinary. There aren't very many exceptional people in the world; why should I call myself one when I know that I'm not?" Coming from a westerner I would think that she needed some serious self esteem boosting; here in Taiwan it was an admirable showing of just how "簡單" she thought herself to be.
Adult student 1: What do foreigners think of Taiwanese people?
Teacher: Um... (obvious discomfort) well... I guess lots of different things. Nothing too severe.
Adult student 2: What kind of things? I really want to know.
Teacher: Ok... I guess... maybe sometimes I've heard that some people think that some Taiwanese people can be a little, um, boring?
(The adult students talked among themselves in Chinese for a minute.)
Adult student 1: Yes. That is true. We are very boring.
(Entire class laughs in agreement. American teacher is puzzled and attempts to move on with the lesson.)
After he mentioned this story I began to notice how often I have heard Taiwanese people describe themselves this way. Purely for research purposes I even accessed some Taiwan centric dating websites and was shocked to see how many men and women prefaced their dating profile with "I'm a simple woman with simple dreams looking for a simple man" or something to that effect. (I promise it was mostly, almost, entirely for research purposes.) "Simple," "boring," "ordinary," "pure," or even "naive" seemed to be sought after qualities.
All of the above words are attempts at translating "簡單." It's supposed to communicate a sort of trustworthy ordinariness. When someone describes themselves as "簡單" they are advertising their stability and lack of complications. While both of these qualities can be admirable it is far cry away from what most people boast about back home. In a weird twist many of my adult students all but boast about how little they have to boast about.
Unfortunately "簡單" simply doesn't translate well. When an adult describes themselves as "simple," "naive," "ordinary," or even "pure" the words immediately conjure up an image of a person who is bereft of responsibility and possesses a sort of childlike foolishness- hardly the first impression you want to give.
The best translation I've been able to come up with, accounting for the western cultural preference of exaggerating our uniqueness, is "dependable." Calling yourself "dependable" can emphasize your reliability and implies that you have a routine that you follow- it doesn't mean that you're boring but it does mean that you don't let impulsive flights of fancy disrupt your existence.
I'm afraid cultural differences just don't allow for an exact translation of "簡單" that doesn't make someone sound incredibly boring. Most of my Taiwanese friends don't find "dependable" to be an adequate translation but it's the best I can do. One of my students went so far as to point out, almost passionately, that "You are saying that we shouldn't call ourselves "ordinary" but most of us are ordinary. There aren't very many exceptional people in the world; why should I call myself one when I know that I'm not?" Coming from a westerner I would think that she needed some serious self esteem boosting; here in Taiwan it was an admirable showing of just how "簡單" she thought herself to be.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The S-I War
Way back in 1962 China and India came to blows over a small strip of basically useless territory on the fringe of Tibet called Aksai Chin. China seized the territory and has maintained control of it for the last five decades despite India's occasional protests. To make matters more interesting India still has control of Arunachal Pradesh, an area that the Chinese government claims as well. Neither side has attempted to change the border through anything but diplomacy but, according to at least one Indian Expert, that is about to change.
According to Mr. Verma China is going to attack India no later than 2012 in order to distract its restive population away from deteriorating economic conditions. The war, which would almost certainly end in China's favor, would also serve to put India in its place and show the world that it will be China who leads Asia for the 21st century.
This is, almost obviously and completely, totally preposterous. A Chinese attack on India would confirm the world's worst fears about China: that as its strength grows it will be willing to use it at the expense of other countries. This would destroy all of the sympathy China currently has in the west, it would derail business relationships, and it would force the Indians into the arms of whatever powerful ally might be willing to help them to upgrade their military. At worst it would cement support for an alliance of Asian democracies to stand up to the authoritarian giant.
On top of all that India has a nuclear arsenal. The Chinese arsenal is probably superior to the Indian (after all the Chinese have had nukes since the early sixties while the Indians have only been freely building weapons for the last ten years) but if the Indians can launch a satellite into the moon's orbit they can fling some nukes at China. Even without nukes India could up the ante and interdict China's seaborne oil supplies from the Middle East and put a fast stop on the Chinese economy- forcing the Chinese into far more than a border war but one that would require the neutralization of India's navy.
Perhaps there are some things that Mr. Verma knows that I don't but without a more compelling argument I fear he just wrote his scholarship's epitaph.
Note: The Chinese government has built a 1:150 scale model of Aksai Chin in the northern desert region of Ningxia. Google Earth has show it to be of incredible detail. Awesome!
According to Mr. Verma China is going to attack India no later than 2012 in order to distract its restive population away from deteriorating economic conditions. The war, which would almost certainly end in China's favor, would also serve to put India in its place and show the world that it will be China who leads Asia for the 21st century.
This is, almost obviously and completely, totally preposterous. A Chinese attack on India would confirm the world's worst fears about China: that as its strength grows it will be willing to use it at the expense of other countries. This would destroy all of the sympathy China currently has in the west, it would derail business relationships, and it would force the Indians into the arms of whatever powerful ally might be willing to help them to upgrade their military. At worst it would cement support for an alliance of Asian democracies to stand up to the authoritarian giant.
On top of all that India has a nuclear arsenal. The Chinese arsenal is probably superior to the Indian (after all the Chinese have had nukes since the early sixties while the Indians have only been freely building weapons for the last ten years) but if the Indians can launch a satellite into the moon's orbit they can fling some nukes at China. Even without nukes India could up the ante and interdict China's seaborne oil supplies from the Middle East and put a fast stop on the Chinese economy- forcing the Chinese into far more than a border war but one that would require the neutralization of India's navy.
Perhaps there are some things that Mr. Verma knows that I don't but without a more compelling argument I fear he just wrote his scholarship's epitaph.
Note: The Chinese government has built a 1:150 scale model of Aksai Chin in the northern desert region of Ningxia. Google Earth has show it to be of incredible detail. Awesome!
Monday, May 4, 2009
When is a shrine just a shrine?
Recently the Japanese Prime Minister offered an expensive ($500) potted plant to a shrine in Japan. China. was. pissed. Why? Because leader Hu Jintao bought the exact same plant but hadn't delivered it yet... now he has to get something new.
Well... not really.
The Yasukuni Shrine honors the nearly 2.5 million Japanese who died during Imperial Japan's many wars between 1867 and 1945. Of course a great deal of these Japanese died in the Empire's wars of aggression against Korea and China. During the course of these conflicts the Japanese soldiers and leadership committed some excessively dastardly acts- dastardly by the standards of the time, by the standards of today, and franky, dastardly by an improbable combination of the Klingon, Roman, and Aztec Empires combined. (Aztec might be a step too far but it was bad.) The actions need not be recounted here but a number of the Japanese leaders were convicted of Crimes Against Humanity and branded war criminals. Some of those leaders are also honored at the shrine. Thusly, when a Japanese Prime Minister honors the shrine he can be implicitly seen as honoring Japan's militaristic and, in some cases, downright barbaric actions towards its neighbors.
Were other countries involved this would be a straightforward story of one leader doing something insensitive and another country taking understandable umbrage. But whenever China is involved it's never that simple. China's people adamantly refuse to tolerate foreigners even discussing "internal Chinese affairs." When I was teaching in China I had to answer endless questions about the Torch Relay Protests occurring in the West. When I pointed out that the United States recognizes that Tibet is a part of China even though a few thousand protesters don't I was seriously asked why police didn't open fire on the protesters.
The Chinese government has used perceived assaults on China to fire up nationalism among the Chinese people (because you're not allowed to comment on the Chinese government without insulting the Chinese people), has attempted to economically punish artists for performing the Taiwanese National Anthem (in Taiwan), and has frequent "news" showing recycled and edited footage designed to make the Taiwanese legislature look like a constant fist fight (it isn't like that all the time) and the United States appear to be a crime infested failed state. I don't necessarily have an issue with one government voicing an opinion (nor do I have an issue with some countries being frustrated at Japanese insensitivity)- it's just that the China doesn't get to demand a "hand's off" policy with foreign powers commenting on its "internal" affairs while simultaneously attempting to control the actions of people in other countries.
The cognitive dissonance involved in China attempting to control the personal/quasi-religious actions of the Japanese Prime Minister while demanding that no one be allowed to comment on Chinese internal politics is hypocrisy and hints at what issues will come to dominate international politics if China is ever the center of the world.*
*China's name implies that it is in the center of the world: 中國 means "Middle Country." I'm not using that as some sort of damning closing argument- it's just that if legions of foreigners get to comment on the effect of cowboy westerns on millions of Americans I think it's fair game to point out that what your country calls itself may have an effect on the national psyche.
Well... not really.
The Yasukuni Shrine honors the nearly 2.5 million Japanese who died during Imperial Japan's many wars between 1867 and 1945. Of course a great deal of these Japanese died in the Empire's wars of aggression against Korea and China. During the course of these conflicts the Japanese soldiers and leadership committed some excessively dastardly acts- dastardly by the standards of the time, by the standards of today, and franky, dastardly by an improbable combination of the Klingon, Roman, and Aztec Empires combined. (Aztec might be a step too far but it was bad.) The actions need not be recounted here but a number of the Japanese leaders were convicted of Crimes Against Humanity and branded war criminals. Some of those leaders are also honored at the shrine. Thusly, when a Japanese Prime Minister honors the shrine he can be implicitly seen as honoring Japan's militaristic and, in some cases, downright barbaric actions towards its neighbors.
Were other countries involved this would be a straightforward story of one leader doing something insensitive and another country taking understandable umbrage. But whenever China is involved it's never that simple. China's people adamantly refuse to tolerate foreigners even discussing "internal Chinese affairs." When I was teaching in China I had to answer endless questions about the Torch Relay Protests occurring in the West. When I pointed out that the United States recognizes that Tibet is a part of China even though a few thousand protesters don't I was seriously asked why police didn't open fire on the protesters.
The Chinese government has used perceived assaults on China to fire up nationalism among the Chinese people (because you're not allowed to comment on the Chinese government without insulting the Chinese people), has attempted to economically punish artists for performing the Taiwanese National Anthem (in Taiwan), and has frequent "news" showing recycled and edited footage designed to make the Taiwanese legislature look like a constant fist fight (it isn't like that all the time) and the United States appear to be a crime infested failed state. I don't necessarily have an issue with one government voicing an opinion (nor do I have an issue with some countries being frustrated at Japanese insensitivity)- it's just that the China doesn't get to demand a "hand's off" policy with foreign powers commenting on its "internal" affairs while simultaneously attempting to control the actions of people in other countries.
The cognitive dissonance involved in China attempting to control the personal/quasi-religious actions of the Japanese Prime Minister while demanding that no one be allowed to comment on Chinese internal politics is hypocrisy and hints at what issues will come to dominate international politics if China is ever the center of the world.*
*China's name implies that it is in the center of the world: 中國 means "Middle Country." I'm not using that as some sort of damning closing argument- it's just that if legions of foreigners get to comment on the effect of cowboy westerns on millions of Americans I think it's fair game to point out that what your country calls itself may have an effect on the national psyche.
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