I have been living in Tianjin,China for 3 years and I don't
really agree that China is pursuing a policy of hatred towards
Japanese. The crux of the problem lies with Japan. How do the
Japanese expect others to forgive and forget when they refuse to
even make a formal apology?
Look at japanese officials. They had rather spend time worshipping
first rate war criminals at the Yasukuni Shrine. If u do that in
Germany, you will be prosecuted. Their attitudes towards their past
is totally different.
If you think the Chinese hatred for the Japanese is strong, then
you ain't seen nothing. Trust me, the Korean hatred of the Japanese
is far stronger, far more widespread, far scarier, far more
neurotic indeed. There are a lot of South koreans living in Tianjin
and this is the impression I got through interacting with
them.
Almost every Korean I have met seem to harbour these sentiments.
And all of the staff that I worked with too - Most of them
expressed a deep hatred of the Japanese, and of the Japanese
"character" - which they generally defined a being quintessentially
cruel, as being defined by the "sword" rather than by the
chysanthemum.
South Korean school text books, from middle school upwards, teach
hatred. Period. Almost every Korean I have ever met has expressed
the exact same line: that the Japanese are "cruel", in sharp
contrast to Koreans, who are "kind." This is the common line.
I love the people of South Korea, but I find this anti-Japanese
sentiment, this strong, overwhelming hatred, to be troublesome, to
be deeply disturbing, to be, quite frankly, both neurotic and
dangerous.
But then again when I think about the Japanese misdeeds towards the
people of Korea, I can't really blame the koreans for hating the
Japanese.
The Japanese themselves should reflect upon why their neighbours
dislike them so much.
