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On this episode of China Uncensored,
could Japan's new military aggression be the biggest threat to China
and to the feelings of the Chinese people?
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored, I’m your host Chris Chappell.
So, if you've been watching Chinese state-run media lately, you’d know that clearly Japan is on the path to war.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is clamoring for war.
They’re shooting of all kinds of missiles, flying helicopters, gundams, warship stuckers…
Gundams?
Umm... okay…
Ahh... CCTV, I hate to break this to you but that's actually from a Ramen noodle commercial.
Okay, so maybe state-run media got that one wrong but at least they're right in concept.
Japan is creating all sorts of new weapons technologies like this new helicopter design reported by Global Times.
Amazing, right?
As the article says, "it looks like something out of science fiction".
Actually...
yeah doesn't it even look real
but the story was picked up by Xinhua, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party
so it must be meganerid.deviantart.com.
It’s from a website called Deviant Art, not a real helicopter.
Okay, so several times Party mouthpieces may have exaggerated Japan's militaristic ambitions a little bit.
What are a few white lies in service of a greater truth?
Japan is planning to wage war on China.
As you know, after China's single-handedly defeated Japan in the war of resistance against Japanese aggression
or some people call it World War II,
the United States wrote Japan a new constitution.
Part of it stipulates that Japan would "forever renounce war as a sovereign right".
I.e. Japan can only have military for self defense and perhaps with good reason,
Imperial Japan committed truly terrible atrocities all throughout Asia during World War II,
not the least of which with the Nanjing Massacre which Chinese media kindly remind us of every day.
But now Chinese media tells us Japan is prepared to ignore its constitution and mobilize for war once again.
Imagine, a country ignoring its own constitution!
So let's take a look at the details.
Hmm... Okay.
So it seems Japan's Lower House of Parliament passed a package of national security bills on July 16th.
They would allow Japan to mobilize troops overseas if Japan is attacked
or if one of its close allies is attacked.
They appear not to change the constitution but rather to reinterpret part of it to respond to 21st century security threats
and they still don't allowed Japan to attack another country
or to expand its territory through war.
Oh and also there's no new law right now.
It's just a couple bills at this point.
But still, just because the Communist Party has rewritten China's Constitution four times
doesn't give Japan permission to revisit its own constitution?
That would hurt the feelings of Chinese people.
Yes, state media really said that.
Anyway, I guess people's feelings are hurt because they've been protesting the Japanese government.
Just look at this.
Wait! What’s that Shelly?
The protests are in Japan?
Oh!
And according to public opinion polls, Japanese voters are opposed to the new legislation two to one?
Huh!
That doesn't sound like a country on the warpath.
Well, let's take a look at Japan's Parliament when they passed the bill package.
Oh!
they only passed because the opposition walked out in protest
and again this is only the Lower House of Japan's Parliament.
So Chinese media is freaking out about immensely unpopular legislation that might not even become law.
Even if it does it wouldn't fundamentally change the anti-war provision of Japan’s constitution.
I mean, who even supports this?
Wait? What? United States?
The ones who made it so Japan couldn't fight a war in the first place?
I mean it's not like the US needs Japan to protect it
but it would make a difference in the South China Sea.
China has claimed most of the region as part of its territory based mainly around artificial islands,
they've been building on reefs in disputed territorial waters.
China's neighbors love that.
The way we all love Nazi.
The US wants to make sure China doesn't control the shipping lanes and mineral resources in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.
So the US needs help from its allies including Japan.
Japan wants to defend its claims too
and it also has to deal with national security challenges that didn't exist in the 1940s
like cyber espionage, terrorism and so on which can often expand outside Japan's physical borders.
That's why Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to push this legislation through
and it's clearly making the Chinese Communist Party a little nervous
but... there still the larger question of whether Japan should be allowed to have expanded military muscle.
I mean, yeah you can understand the use of Gundam when you have to deal with this.
But Japan did commit serious atrocities during World War 2
and many in Asia not just China feel that not enough has been done to redress them.
On the other hand, Shinzo Abe feels Japan should move past its guilt and become a normal country.
And on the other hand, I feel giant robot should be used to make giant cup of ramen.
How do you feel?
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Once again, I'm Chris Chappell. See you next time.