Listening to various media outlets vilify China has become an international pastime. The Chinese government is blamed for everything from the US economic woes, to the global wavering, to the housing crisis, to instigation of all confrontations with Japan. They are at once called on to stabilize the world and at the same time demonized for not doing it in such a way that the US and Europe are the primary recipients of prosperity.
I hear pundits criticizing the Chinese government for not knowing how to stabilize the world economy, when their economic growth has outpaced every other nation for the last ten years!
And while the government is saddled with the job of stabilizing our current market wallops, the media picks and prods as though this is a singular effort. Fox News, O’Reilly went so far as to scoff at the name of the President of China as though he and no one else should deem the name worthy of their memory… What? Childish bully tactics. In addition, he grossly misstated a claim that all historical wars and conflicts between Japan and China were instigated by China and won by Japan. Ouch!
We rely on China to bolster our economy, to give us cheap goods, to drive up oil prices for our benefit, to keep the dollar strong, and then drag them through the mud if they miss a step.
Why?
The truth of the history behind China and Japan is interesting. Similar to the Iran-Iraq war in which Iraq was the provocateur and yet Iran was labeled the evil empire, China has a similar history with Japan.
The first recorded conflict between Japan and China was in 663 AD in which Japan was the aggressor seeking to invade Korea and China. Japan was defeated roundly! The second large scale aggression was in the 16th century and again Japan was the aggressor seeking land and power. They invasion was successful initially given it’s surprise manipulation, but ultimately once again Japan was defeated.
The late 1800’s again saw Japan attempt to ignite war when it set its sights on capturing Korea and Taiwan. And in the 1930’s the Japanese invaded Manchuria. In was during this time period that the Japanese were involved in contentious war crimes including looting, rape, civilian massacres, and medical atrocities in which millions of Chinese civilians were murdered.
In 1938, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and became a part of WWII. Their treatment of prisoners of war was heinous, terrorizing and disgustingly brutal.
And yet, our memories are short and our media would have us believe that the tensions and wars between China and Japan were inflamed by the Chinese. Not so. The importance of the written word is sacrosanct. Without it, the carelessly false and deceit impregnated by the press might actually appear to be truth.
Certainly there are despicable stories regarding China’s history, US history, UK history, Spain’s history, Russian history, etc…, but altering history is a dangerous precedent. And while I have no desire whatsoever to become a citizen of Iran or China, relaying the truth is necessary to a global society wishing to evolve while holding to ethics, morality and intellect. Lying has no place in that past, present or future.
So if you are looking to China to save the world, I would suggest demonizing will not produce the desired results.