A remarkable tale: on a Beijing expressway, an automobile tails the official car of Japan's Ambassador to China. The chase goes on for three kilometers, the trailing car honking its horn the whole way. Another car appears and after a weaving and swerving course, the pair of vehicles halt the Ambassador's car. An occupant of one the cars comes out and snaps the Japanese flag off the front of the Ambassador's car. (J)
Response of the person watching the report with me: "The Chinese are barbarians."
My response, to myself, sotto voce:
"Li Hongzhang. Shimonoseki. March 24, 1895." (E)
A feeling of pride in the emergence of a powerful new state makes barbarians of us all.
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2 comments:
The thing about Li Hongzhang, and Franz Ferdinand for that matter, is that that was 100 years ago...
Anonymous -
The thing is about China is that it is emerging as a challenge to the longtime status quo in world politics.
The thing is about the three incidents is that they were the acts of private citizens acting in what they thought was the defense of their country's honor.
The thing about 100 years ago in the matters of East Asian resentment is that 100 years is but the blink of an eye: http://shisaku.blogspot.jp/2012/08/pictures-of-modern-patriotism.html
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