Anti-Japanese Protests in Beijing

I decided to expand a little bit on my last post

In the past week, China has experienced a new wave of anti-Japan protests marking 81 years since Japan invaded China in conjunction with the protests over the ownership of the Diaoyu Islands. The protests have mostly been peacefully staged in front of Japanese embassies while riot police look on; however there have been reports that a Japanese owned factory in the Chinese city of Qingdao was set fire and burned to the ground. This incident led to the temporary closing of a many Japanese owned companies in mainland China. The day-to-day ramifications of the anti-Japan sentiment presently coursing through Chinese society have been interesting to note.

In the days immediately following the first wave of protests, two Japanese restaurants near my school reacted immediately. A sushi restaurant down the street removed the characters that said “Japan” from their restaurant sign and the restaurant owner decided this was a convenient time to remodel; in addition, Chinese flags sprouted up in front of the restaurant. I am not sure if the flags were put up by the owner to keep someone from burning the restaurant down in a patriotic gesture, or by locals to make a point. The Japanese restaurant in the first floor of my dorm building put plastic garbage bags over the characters that said “Japan” and the waitresses did not wear Japanese style clothing for a week.

All across Beijing, local convenience stores emptied their shelves of any Japanese goods, particularly Seven-Eleven who is owned by a Japanese entity in China. In the past week, convenience stories have mysteriously not stocked Pocky, Japanese green tea, or sushi. Also mysteriously absent have been the Japanese students living in our dorm. Usually present in large numbers in the lobby, they have not been seen in the past week other than transiting to and from class. In universities with large numbers of Japanese students, the gates have been closed and the guards will only let in known students of the university. Whether this is to protect the students or keep tabs on them I am not sure.

The anti-Japan protests from the past week are an event orchestrated by the Chinese government to distract the Chinese people from internal problems leading up the the Chinese change of power next week. Anti-Japan protests, or really any protest not directed at the government, spark a rush of patriotism in Chinese society, which is essential to the peaceful change of power. Up to this point in the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), there has only been one peaceful change over of power in 2002. As a matter of fact, in China's long history there has rarely been a peaceful change of power. Well aware of this, the CCP has used the Diaoyu Islands, always a controversial topic, to use Chinese patriotism to their advantage. However, the protests will only continue as long as the Chinese government believes them to be beneficial, and with the change of power quickly approaching, the government cannot afford any mishaps. As a result, the protests have already died down and the Japanese restaurants are already returning to normal business.