Chinese President Xi raises his fist at Japan with parade
There will be "no change in anti-Japan sentiment", indeed more events are expected to be held
Thursday’s military parade in Beijing was the culmination of state-run commemorative activities to mark 70 years since China’s “victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan” and reiterated China’s stance of aiming to intimidate Japan through military might and portrayals of history.
However, the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping is also being squeezed by the necessity to seek out channels for improving ties with Japan at a time when China’s economic slowdown is becoming clear.
The war against Japan and the “Anti-Fascist War” were “a decisive battle between justice and evil, between light and darkness”, Xi said in his keynote speech at the parade.
China’s government had repeatedly insisted that the ceremony was not “specifically aimed at any country, not aimed at Japan or the Japanese people and has nothing to do with China-Japan relations”.
However, the parade was strewn with “anti-Japan” touches. Military units whose past “heroic and model Chinese troops” fought in the war against Japan marched in the parade for the first time, and the Kongjing (KJ)-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft, which are expected to be active in the East China Sea and have caused some concern in Japan, also flew over Tiananmen Square.
This display indicated that “present-day Japan” was on the mind of China’s leaders.
This was the first military parade conducted to commemorate victory on the anniversary established by law last year of “China’s victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan”, rather than a parade to commemorate the October 1 anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The parade was a political event that underlined the threat posed by the Xi administration.
“Even after the ‘70-year anniversary of the victory’ passes, there will be no change in anti-Japan sentiment being used to provide legitimacy to the rule of the Chinese Communist Party and in its propaganda, and to keep a grip on the military,” a diplomatic source told The Yomiuri Shimbun.
A scholar at the Academy of Military Science, a research institute of the People’s Liberation Army, told a Chinese newspaper that military parades to mark “victory in the war” will likely be held in milestone years and on other occasions, and they will become common events.
Several state-level “anti-Japan” events will be held in the coming months, including one on September 18 to mark the Liutiaohu Incident, a railway bombing that triggered the Manchurian Incident, and a national memorial day on December 13 for victims of the Nanjing Incident.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s non-attendance at last week’s events has been criticised in some media quarters, with the China Youth Daily saying: “Abe has forsaken an opportunity for reconciliation with China on historical issues.” By contrast, a Chinese government source said giving ties with Japan a fresh start “will require a cooling-off period”.
Nevertheless, China remains aware of the necessity of maintaining the major trend of improving relations with Japan. The recent thawing of bilateral ties appears to stem from the fact that Xi has solidified the foundation of his administration, which has allowed him to exercise leadership on delicate issues involving Japan, and that the economic slowdown has become more severe than had been expected. Beijing desperately wants Japanese investment and technologies.
On August 14, the day Abe issued a statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, the People’s Daily, an official newspaper of the Communist Party of China, listed on its website a collection of 27 comments Xi had made regarding relations with Japan over the past eight years. They were titled “important statements” and included a speech he gave in May to a group of about 3,000 Japanese visitors in China, in which he expressed his desire for improved relations.
During the China-South Korea summit held on Wednesday, Xi also agreed to hold three-way talks that would include the Japanese prime minister. Such a meeting has been refused by China since the Japanese government purchased some of the Senkaku Islands in 2012. It is also possible China might search for opportunities to hold a bilateral summit meeting with Japan on the sidelines of upcoming international events.
Analysts believe China will adjust the pressure it applies over historical perceptions and other issues while sticking to the course of promoting economic cooperation and civilian exchanges with Japan.
