29 February 2012 — Global Times

Western historical sympathy too much to expect By Yuan Hui

It’s not that Western observers aren’t sympathetic, but anyone’s choice of who they sympathize with is affected by those closest, culturally and politically, to them. In Western films and literature, there are numerous works depicting the historic tragedy of the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, but the tens of millions of Soviet or Eastern European victims of the Nazis receive far less coverage.

External observers always listen to the powerful, and ignore the fear and anger of the weak. The Chinese should require themselves to remember history. There is too long a way to go before global justice and consciousness pay attention to those innocent victims.

In Western eyes, the Chinese are not open enough toward history. I’ve lived in Germany for years, and in my experience the Germans are perfectly well informed about Japanese atrocities in China in the 1930s and 1940s. But they can’t understand why the Chinese public is so angry about events that happened to their grandparents or great-grandparents.

This is understandable. Forgiveness, whether in Christianity or Confucianism, is a virtue. World War II is long over, and many young Germans are already complaining that their history textbooks spend too much time on the Nazis.

But compared to the Germans, the Japanese have conducted too little self-reflection. Self-reflection by the perpetrators is a prerequisite of historical forgiveness. If, say, the mayor of Stuttgart publicly questioned the existence of Auschwitz while meeting with Israeli guests, he would be out of a job within days and people would question his sanity. But in Japan, Nagoya mayor Takashi Kawamura is still in his position despite his denial of the Nanjing Massacre.

Germans and other Westerners are well aware of the realities of the Nanjing Massacre, where hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians were murdered and mass rape took place. Books such as Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking, films like John Rabe’s, and documentaries such as Laurence Rees’ Horror in the East have been read or seen by millions in the US and Europe.

But even those Germans who know a lot about East Asian history believe it’s not necessary for Chinese to be so angry. They argue that even though Chinese see Japanese self-reflection as inadequate, the majority of the Japanese public has reflected upon the war from the bottom of their hearts, and that the infuriating words of one or two politicians are no sign of real Japanese sentiment.

In their eyes, the conflicts between China and Japan are more like cultural misunderstandings – the Japanese value “face,” whereas the Chinese attach great importance to emotions. More than a few Germans hold that the Chinese, when they calm down, should understand there is no absolute right or wrong and should put these emotions aside. Some even believe that the Chinese should learn to understand the Japanese way of thinking, otherwise the misunderstandings will continue.

I have to say that those who hold such perspectives still stand in the shoes of the Japanese. From the perspective of the Chinese, it is difficult not only to let go of historical horrors, but also to understand some emotions prevailing in Japanese society today. Why don’t such politicians receive unanimous condemnation from the entire society? This partly explains why Japanese self-reflection is not sincere in Chinese eyes. A nation that is really repentant would not allow any denial of its own historical crimes, even if such denials come from a few individuals at home.

Many Chinese are used to asking why Westerners don’t know about this horrific piece history. This is a false question. The Westerners do know about it, but they just don’t care as much as Chinese do. Even though they care, between the Japanese who point to the apologies delivered over the years and the Chinese who see these apologies as “insincere,” Westerners choose to understand Japanese sentiments rather than the anger of the Chinese.

It’s not that Western observers aren’t sympathetic, but anyone’s choice of who they sympathize with is affected by those closest, culturally and politically, to them. In Western films and literature, there are numerous works depicting the historic tragedy of the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, but the tens of millions of Soviet or Eastern European victims of the Nazis receive far less coverage.

Even the Chinese can think from a different perspective. Have you ever really cared about the millions of Native Americans who perished in the European conquest of the New World, or the 10 million African slaves taken to America?

Thus, why should we require Westerners to care? External observers always listen to the powerful, and ignore the fear and anger of the weak. The Chinese should require themselves to remember history. There is too long a way to go before global justice and consciousness pay attention to those innocent victims.

The author is a PhD candidate of philosophy at Tübingen University.