China’s growing nationalism prompts soul-searching after the death of a Japanese kid.

Elbahrain.net As extreme nationalism has grown in China as a result of the death of a Japanese schoolboy, there has been a great deal of outrage and introspection. Some have even accused the government of promoting anti-Japanese feeling and even the “teaching of hatred.”

The terrible death of a young person has once again drawn attention to the complicated relationship between the two largest economies in Asia, which has been molded by their shared experience in war as well as the shifting power dynamics brought about by China’s ascent.

The 10-year-old, who was born in the southern city of Shenzhen to a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, was fatally stabbed by a guy last Wednesday on his way to school. It was the third attack on foreigners in China in recent months and the second knife attack on Japanese children.

Beijing authorities have declined to reveal the reason behind each occurrence, characterizing them as “isolated incidents” that may occur anywhere in the world.

However, for some Shenzhen locals and internet pundits, the killing that occurred during the day in one of China’s most international cities has forced them to critically consider how xenophobia and nationalistic rhetoric contribute to these kinds of murders.

After the boy’s passing last Thursday, a Shenzhen neighbor who had placed a white rose outside the Japanese school remarked, “As a Chinese, I feel heartbroken, furious, and humiliated.”

“Hatred education over an extended period of time leads to this kind of brutality… The resident, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for retaliation, stated, “There is no benefit in fostering hatred from a young age.

The resident’s remarks are in keeping with a wave of online articles and commentary that demand an investigation into anti-Japanese sentiment; many of these have since been taken down by Chinese social media sites.

Historical rage

sinceremoved popular post on the social media site WeChat,

Some of the largest Japanese corporations have offered to repatriate their employees and their families, indicating how deeply the assassination has affected the Japanese community in China.

Because of its terrible invasion and occupation of China during World War II, Japan has long been the object of resentment from Chinese nationalists. Chinese students for generations were taught about the horrors carried out by Japanese forces in textbooks and on state television.

Under President Xi Jinping, who regularly invokes the nation’s “century of humiliation” by colonial powers to rally support behind his nationalistic goal to assert Chinese dominance, China has increased patriotic teaching.

,The statement claimed that it had “obscured some Chinese people’s comprehension of Japan and even glorified ignorance and evil.”

Beijing has refuted the charges.

The spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, Lin Jian, declared on Monday that “there is no so-called Japan-hating education in China.”

“We support using lessons learned from history to stop the tragedy of war from occurring again, not to incite hatred.”

Clickbait with a nationalistic bent

Nationalism has long been fostered by the ruling Chinese Communist Party in order to support its legitimacy.

In other cases, internet influencers who frequently promote conspiracy theories and jingoistic rhetoric to compete for attention utilize nationalism as clickbait. A Chinese guy gained notoriety lately after he uploaded a video of himself vandalizing Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, a contentious memorial to Japan’s war dead, some of whom were found guilty of war crimes.

On August 27, 2023, people in Beijing pass by a sign that reads, “Suspend the sale of all fish items imported from Japan,” as they enter a neighborhood of Japanese eateries.