Sensuikan San,
First, thank you for your well-thought and eloquent response. I fear that I have come across too aggressive, too overbearing in my opinions. Having said this, however, I feel compelled to clarify certain areas, which you have pointed out.
First, I agree with your statement that, as an observer of current events, we are more aware (try to be more aware) of the dynamics at play, than ﾂ"simply reading of such events long after they took place.ﾂ" However, your subsequent comments did not show the fruit borne from your past experiences. How did your memory of WW2, Vietnam or 9/11 help you to better understand what's currently happening with the anti-Japanese demonstrations, other than simply that ﾂ"Chinese people are currently overreacting and ﾂ'have it wrong'?ﾂ" You provide little in terms of the driving factors (other than textbooks) that have been building: Yasukuni shrine visits, island disputes, Taiwan-issue, etc. Instead, you take a very broad brush to the situation and simply try to write ﾂ"ENOUGH.ﾂ"
Now, for your response:
Sensuikan San said:
As for having to be part of the ﾂ"policy making teamﾂ" in order to make an observation or have an opinion? Is that not too strong a statement? If that is so ﾂ…. we might as well shut this forum down now !
My point was that, if in your past, you were more than a simple spectator—someone with ﾂ"insideﾂ" knowledge of what was happening behind the scenes—then, I could understand why you make reference to your past. Quite frankly, I don't see how ﾂ"your experienceﾂ" is any more valid than ﾂ"my researchﾂ" of past incidents.
With regard to:
Sensuikan San said:
What pee'd me off was when you repeated this qualification (after omitting mine...) as if you'd just coined it yourself! In an otherwise challenging and eloquent response ﾂ… the omission was a cheap (and easy) shot! But, what the heck! ﾂ….I would have probably done the same myself ﾂ….!
My apologies if it seemed that this was deliberate. I had originally kept that last portion in, however, after reviewing my final post (and for the sake of brevity), I thought it pertinent to highlight the specific comment to which I wished to reply.
I still stand by that latter decision as the ultimate point of your qualifying paragraph (the one I omitted) seemed to be:
Sensuikan San said:
But - should we really hold to ransom all members of a cultural group ... for crimes committed before they were born ?
This is a topic that has been discussed over and over again on this forum, and quite frankly, I think you miss the point of the anti-Japanese reactions. It's not that they're holding anyone to ransom. They're simply demanding an accurate recounting of what happened. Now before you go on about China's own precedence for accurate history, what about South Korea's, HKs' and Vietnam's similar call?
Sensuikan San said:
O.K. Is that really the case? If so – I'll buy it ! (– although, we do have ﾂ"holocaust deniersﾂ" in the West too! But we don't go around trying to start more conflict with Germany at the drop of a hat; enraged as we might feel).
Yes, there are ﾂ"holocaust deniersﾂ" in the West, but they are NOT part of Germany's governing body and Ministry of Education and so-called scholars with a revisionist slant (or at least, I don't think so) Of course, the West is not trying to start a conflict with Germany because Germany's not trying to reinvent its history. Frankly, the parallel you draw (loose as it is) is quite insulting because it relegates the reactions in the countries which are demonstration as flights of fancy.
Sensuikan San said:
(ﾂ….and ﾂ"get over itﾂ"? – review my post and yours – not my words, but your ownﾂ…!)
I hadn't quite mastered the hyper-text command for italics at this point so the quotes were the only device I could think of for emphasis (ALL CAPS seemed like I was shouting). Sorry for the confusion.
Sensuikan San said:
My own feeling is that, wether we like it or not, Japan (because she is Japan ﾂ…) has always been unlikely to apologize for her actions of the past. You know it; I know it; the Chinese know it; ﾂ…. The world knows it! It's not a good thing – but it is so!
It's interesting to note here, that Japanese are actually quite good at apologizing. They apologize for everything throughout the day. The word/phrase ﾂ"sumiasenﾂ" is just about the most over-used in the language, but at the end of the day, there's no real meaning behind it. AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM. Their (Japanese gov't) words are apologetic, but their actions are quite...shall we say,misleading ? (at best).
Sensuikan San said:
How long do we (they?) keep it up? Another half century? One Century? Two?
Asia's history is much longer than that of the West. Maybe we just let them duke it out for once, rather than playing biased referee. I know, in reality, this is highly impossible, but just a thought.
Sensuikan San said:
Must we keep a league table for past misdeeds ? Or should we just start to concentrate on wether our grandchildren have air to breathe and water to drink ﾂ….. or even enough space to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in ?
I think the latter is more important, but that's just my opinion. If the Chinese feel a certain way and the Japanese feel another way, let them (not the West) work it out.