‘A detailed instruction on the Protest Against Right Wing Japanese’
And other notes about ‘warm patriotic sentiments’
The following is a translation of an email making the rounds in Shanghai regarding the fun-filled weekend the city has in store. The instructions include some tips that I think we can all apply to our everyday lives, like “If you are spotted throwing stuff at the consulate, smile at the policeman” and “Be careful when burning the Japanese flag and the Prime Minister’s portrait! Don’t end up burning yourself!” That’s just common sense.
Not sure if you were planning on checking out the protests in person or not — a little too early in the day for me — but the organizers promise it will be “quite a view.”
Here, comrades, is everything you need to know:
“《上海地区抗议日本右翼活动的详细说明书》
A detailed instruction on the Protest Against Right Wing Japanese
时间：2005年4月16日9点整（本周六）
Time: 2005-4-16 9:00am (Sat.)
地点：1路－外滩人民英雄纪念碑集中、2路－人民广场集中
Venue: Route 1:Monument of People’s Heroes; Route 2: the People’s Square
路线：外滩人民英雄纪念碑—> 南京路—> 人民广场—> 日本大使馆
Route: Monument of People’s Heroes→Nanjing Rd. → the People’s Square → Japanese Consulate
（考虑到有行动不便的爱国者，我们建议在人民广场坐925B到虹桥开发区。）
(In consideration of those physically challenged, we suggest you to take bus 925B from the People’s Square to Hong Qiao)
人物：有消息上海各大高 学生都会自发参与，目前各 都进入了紧 状态，领导普遍
取消了一切出差会议活动，以防局面发生不可控制。不要试图去各个论坛查证，相关该
天活动的帖子都被要求立即 除。如果有兴趣请自行转发周围的人获知此事并邀请参
，如果不愿直接参与届时去看看热闹也好的，会是难得的景观！^_^
Participants: Some sources say that college students in Shanghai will participate voluntarily. All schools in Shanghai are in a state of tension. School leaders canceled all their activities to see to it that nothing goes out of control. Don’t try to find proof from school bbs, all related posts are deleted right away. If you are interested, forward this message to people around you and invited them to join. If you dont want to get directly involved, just go and take a look. It will be quite a view!
活动注意事项：
Instructions:
1、记得自带干粮和饮水，不要选择日本的品牌；
1. Bring food and drinking water, don’t choose Japanese brands;
2、尽量不要带贵重物品，尽量穿运动鞋，便于跑动；
2. Don’t bring valuables, wear sports shoes in case you need move fast
3、不要携带日产相机、摄像机、手机、录音机等电子产品，以防不测；
3. Don’t bring Japanese made cameras, video cameras, cell phones, recorders, etc, just in case
4、带好记号笔，届时签名用；
4. Bring markers for signature
5、到了使馆门口不要投掷石块、金属等硬物，建议携带番茄和鸡蛋、小泉头像、打火
机、日本国旗等；
5. Don’t throw stones, metal or any hard stuff to the Japanese consulate. We suggest you to bring tomatoes and eggs, lighters, Japanese national flags, and portrait of the Japanese Prime Minister.
6、参考口号和 语：“抵制日货、抗议日本篡改历史教科书！”、“抵制日货、支持
国货”、“反对日本进入常任理事国”、“反对日本进入联合国常任理事国！拒绝日货
！还我钓鱼岛！抗议日本篡改历史教科书！”等。
Reference slogans and banners: “Boycotting Japanese products! No whitewashing the school history textbook!”; “Boycotting Japanese products! Support domestic products!”; “No permanent UN Security Council seat for Japan! No Japanese products! Give us back Diaoyu Island! No glossing over school history text books!”
活动目的：
Purpose:
对日本政府长期拒不承认二战期间所犯下的滔天罪行、篡改历史教科书、强 钓鱼岛、
妄想 入常任理事国的卑鄙行径表示最最强烈的抗议！！！
To protest against the Japanese government for not admitting the war crimes they commited in the 2nd World War, whitewashing school history textbooks, illegal occupation of Diaoyu Island, and attempts to obtain permanent seat in the UN Security Council!
最重要提示：
Important:
1、此次活动不针对任何在华日本友人、仅仅针对日本右翼势力和其支持者，所以在活
动中请不要过激地针对友人；
1.The protest is not aimed at friendly Japanese, but again Japanese right wings.
2、警察是人民的公仆，在游行过程中，他们和我们一 也是爱国的，只是 为他们有
他们的任务——保证活动的安全性，所以大家配合警察叔叔，特别是在使馆门口，如果
警察叔叔看着 ，就不要乱丢东西，如果没有人看着 ，就丢一个鸡蛋或者一个番茄，
万一丢完了被警察叔叔发现，就朝他笑笑；
2. The police are public servants, they are just as patriotic as us, but they have their duties — to ensure security during the protest. Therefore, please cooperate with them, especially in front of the Japanese consulate. If a policeman looks at you, don’t throw anything, if not, throw an egg or a tomato. If you are spotted throwing stuff at the consulate, smile at the policeman.
3、沿途经过日本人投资的商店、公司等，不要给予 坏性打击， 为 坏了以后，日
本人会向中国政府索要赔偿的，所以大家届时理智一点；
3. Don’t attack Japanese shops, companies en route the protest, for the Japanese government will claim losses with the Chinese government. Please stay calm!
4、在焚烧日本国旗和小泉头像的时候，请注意安全，不要烧到衣服变成自焚了！
4. Be careful when burning the Japanese flag and the Prime Minister’s portrait! Don’t end up burning yourself!
5、控制好整个活动的度是最关键的，所以请各部分（学 、公司、社会团体）负责人掌控好，上海是国际性大都市，是国家的经济命脉，请大家在整个活动中理性参与！！！
5. It’s very important to control the degree of the protest. People in charge of the protest from all companies schools and social groups need to control your own group. Shanghai is an international city, and the economic heart of China, so, please participate with caution!!!
6、以上 点是我们能想到的，也希望大家补充，并提醒到时候参 活动的朋友们。
6. The above mentioned are things we can think of, you can add to it and bring it up to friends who join our protest.
如果 爱国，如果 周六有空，那就请参与到这个活动中来！
If you are patriotic and you are free on Saturday, please join the protest!
也许 的力量是渺小的，但是千万个我们就能汇聚成强大的力量！！！希望上海的活动
能象广州和北京一 成功！也希望我们简单的活动能让日本政府认清目前的形势！
Perhaps you think you are nothing, but thousands of us can be a tremendous force!!! We hope the protest in Shanghai will be as successful as the ones in Beijing and Guangzhou! We also hope that the Japanese government will recognize the situation because of our protest!
抗日的道路很漫长，但是只要我们齐心协力，胜利一定属于我们中国人！！！
The road of fighting the Japanese right wing is long. But if we bear ourselves to our duties, victory definitely belongs to us Chinese!”
And one of the many, many SMS messages making the rounds:
“4月16日，本周六，九点上海人民广场抗日游行。同志们， 论 是否参 ，请大量转发，让爱国的同胞们不错过这次游行！
April 16, this Saturday, 9:00 am, Shanghai People’s Square, Anti-Japanese protest. Comrades, no matter if you join the protest or not, please forward this message to as many people as possible. Don’t let those patriotic countrymen miss this protest!”
Here is the email sent out Friday by the American Consulate in Shanghai:
“Warning: Possible Demonstrations
The Embassy has received unconfirmed reports that unknown persons are circulating a call to stage anti-Japanese demonstrations throughout China the weekend of April 16 &17. The locations mentioned in the call are: Beijing, Saturday at Tiananmen Square; Shanghai, Saturday at People’s Square; Shenyang, Sunday at the Japanese Consulate; Guangzhou, Sunday at Tianhe Stadium; Dogguan, Sunday at Shijie Stadium; Tianjin, Saturday at Tianjin Galaxy Square; and Chengdu, Sunday at Digital Plaza.
The Embassy has also received information that demonstrations are planned for: Nanjing on May 1; Shanghai on May 4th at the Martyr’s Monument; Wenzhou on May 4th at Century Plaza; Beijing on May 4th at the Japanese Embassy and in Chongqing on May 4th at the Shangqing Temple.
Because of the fluid nature of such events, American citizens traveling in China should be alert for demonstrations and or marches occurring at other times and locations without prior warning.
The demonstrations are purportedly against Japanese interests, but could involve foreigners in general. Therefore, the Embassy has taken the step of warning all Embassy and Consulate General personnel to avoid the areas outlined above on Saturday and Sunday and in early May, to maintain vigilance when traveling in China and to avoid crowds or demonstrations.
This warning is in effect until Tuesday June 14.
American citizens with questions or information can contact their American Citizen Services Unit at shanghai_acs@yahoo.com. Citizens are further advised to check the Embassy web site at http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn for security updates, and the Department of State web site at http://www.travel.state.gov for information on the security situation in other countries.”
And some news links:
Shanghai warns citizens against disorderly anti-Japanese protests (AP, April 14): “Anticipating a weekend of rowdy anti-Japanese protests, Shanghai police on Thursday sent text messages to city residents’ mobile phones saying demonstrations must receive official permission and be orderly. ‘According to law, marches must obtain permission. The masses, in expressing their warm patriotic sentiments, must be orderly, rational and law abiding,” the brief message said. “Express warm patriotic sentiments through proper channels. Obey the law. Maintain order.’”
Anti-Japan protest planned for April 16 in Shanghai (Interfax, April 14): “Chinese protestors plan to hold an anti-Japan rally in Shanghai this coming Saturday, April 16, marching from the city’s riverfront Bund area to the Japanese consulate, documents sent to Interfax by the event’s organizers show. This planned anti-Japan protest follows a number of similar events in other cities around China, including Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing and Chengdu. A number of those protests turned violent, with protestors vandalizing stores selling Japanese goods. In Beijing, demonstrators converged on and threw bottles at the Japanese embassy.” (with map of march route)
China websites call for large weekend anti-Japan protests (AFP, April 14): “China’s anti-Japanese websites and Internet forums called for a second wave of rallies against Japan this weekend, as the government struggled with how to ensure nationalistic furore does not boil over. In popular instant messaging forums, netizens spread word about the times and locations of planned demonstrations in major metropolises including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenyang and Chengdu.”
Foreign Ministry: No Chinese students killed in Japan (Xinhua, April 14): “China denied Thursday that two Chinese students have been killed in Japan. A short news release issued by Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Japanese media reports that two Chinese students had been killed in Japan were untrue. ‘We have carefully checked the facts, and the story is false,’ Qin said, without revealing details.”
Japan issues alert to nationals in China before second wave of rallies (AFP, April 15): “Japanese diplomatic missions in China have issued an urgent alert to Japanese nationals there ahead of planned weekend rallies, recommending they keep a low profile and avoid protest venues. China’s anti-Japanese websites and Internet forums have called for a second wave of rallies against Japan this weekend, as the government struggled with how to ensure nationalistic furor does not boil over. ‘Please be fully careful to secure your own safety,’ the consulate-general of Japan in Shanghai said in an alert posted on its website late Thursday, noting a rally was planned there on Saturday.”
Rarely-Read Book Inspires Japan-China Rift (AP, April 14): “A nationalist textbook newly approved by the Tokyo government is driving the deepest wedge in Japan-China relations in decades, but few of the country’s students have ever read it. Though given away for free, the book titled ‘New History Textbook’ is used by only 18 of 11,102 junior high schools in Japan, reflecting many teachers’ concerns over its content. It has been denounced by the leading teachers’ union, and is well to the right wing of mainstream public opinion. Outside of Japan’s classrooms, however, the textbook is anything but obscure.”
Japanese student describes attack by protester in Shanghai (Kyodo, April 15): “A 22-year-old Japanese student who was recently assaulted by a Chinese protester in Shanghai said Thursday his attacker repeatedly hit him saying, ‘The Japanese should die.’ The student said his attacker assaulted him with a mug, a beer bottle and a chair. He was one of three Japanese students who were beaten up at the bar in Shanghai. The Japanese students said police officers also cursed at them.”
Chinese hackers attack Japanese Web sites (UPI, April 14): “Japanese police and defense agencies said Thursday their Web sites had come under attack from suspected Chinese hackers as bilateral tensions escalated. Access was blocked to the National Police Agency’s site from late Wednesday till early morning Thursday, Channel NewsAsia reported. At least one Chinese Web site had called on Chinese patriots to jam Japanese servers. Cyber wars initiated in China are common whenever diplomatic tensions arise.”
Minister Urges Japan to Learn from Germany in History Dispute (Yonhap, April 14): “South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon urged Japan Thursday to try to learn from Germany in the latter’s effort to approach the issue of its past in a humble manner. In a joint interview with Handelsblatt and three other German dailies on the occasion of President Roh Moo-hyun’s state visit here, Ban said, ‘From this point of view, Japan can learn much from Germany.’ During his five-day state visit to Germany that began on Sunday, Roh repeatedly urged Japan to follow the example of Germany, which is said to have properly apologized and made reparations for its atrocities during World War II.”
Japan’s Koizumi May Meet China’s Hu on April 22, Mainichi Says (Bloomberg, April 15): “Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may meet Chinese President Hu Jintao on April 22 in Indonesia, the Mainichi newspaper reported on its Web site, without saying where it obtained the information. They will probably meet on the sidelines of an Asia-Africa conference to be held in the country, the report said. The two leaders will discuss how to improve diplomatic relations between their countries, the report said.”
China Pushing and Scripting Japan Protests (New York Times, April 15): “Enraged about Japan’s tendentious textbooks and territorial disputes in the East China Sea, Sun Wei, a college junior, joined thousands of Chinese in a rare legal protest march on the streets of Beijing last weekend. Yet the police herded protesters into tight groups, let them take turns throwing rocks, then told them they had ‘vented their anger’ long enough and bused them back to campus. ‘It was partly a real protest and partly a political show,’ Mr. Sun said in an interview this week. ‘I felt a little like a puppet.’”
Japan says China has become ‘serious problem’ to security (AFP, April 15): “Japan said that China had become a ‘serious problem’ to its security through its energy development in disputed waters, although it stressed that the Asian giants should seek stable relations. Japan’s annual book on diplomacy, which coincided with a sharp rise in tensions between the countries, cited China’s energy development in the East China Sea and last year’s incursion of a Chinese nuclear submarine in the area. ‘A serious problem impeding Japan’s security and sovereign rights emerged’ from China’s actions, the foreign ministry book said.”
What Chinese textbooks don’t say (CNN via AP, April 14): “Some things you won’t find in Chinese history textbooks: the 1989 democracy movement, the millions who died in a famine caused by misguided communist policies or China’s military attacks on India and Vietnam. As China criticizes Japan for new textbooks that critics say minimize wartime abuses like the Japanese military forcing Asian women into sexual slavery, Beijing’s own schoolbooks have significant omissions about the communist system’s own history and relations with its neighbors.” (with video clips of China protests)
- The situation in Xiamen from Andrea.
- The latest from Danwei here and here, including fun with pigs, Japanese flags and Photoshop.
- Shanghai blogger Andres Gentry presents a thoughtful analysis of the goings on.
- ESWN weighs in on the textbook debate.
- Simon has a protest roundup and a good look at China’s more important recent uprising.
Photo stolen from Peking Duck. Not sure where he got it from.
04.15.2005, 1:15 PM · Observations, Politics
21 Comments
I put it on my calendar[1], but not on Upcoming[2] :)
[1] http://china.calendars.net/micah/
[2] http://upcoming.org/metro/cn/sh/sh/
You are informed indeed. I guess you’ve got an English version of this email, or you’ve got an interpreter. Here are the other tips: Don’t go for the policemen because they are just doing their job and they are patriotic. Don’t smash the Japanese shops, or our government will have to pay for it.
These make sense. It is not easy to keep one’s head in the flush of patriotic sentiments.
Hi
In the name of decency stay home
Yeah I am talking to you
The world needs less protest more understanding
OK?
I just received this email from a former student:
“dan
do you know?
it is said some people have organized a protest this Saturday in People’s Square
the school administrations of different universities in Shanghai send out teachers, provides there might be some chaotic events
the power of internet makes the rumour once in air incredibly horrible.
everybody is talking about the protest
but i don’t think that will really happen in a large scale
by the way, what do you people from the States think about “Japan a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council”?
(name deleted)
ps. this morning i got the mail from (name deleted) (you must have the idea who i am talking about)
see if you can understand the implied meaning
最近突然发现一个有趣现象：
junk垃圾；
adult色鬼；
prostitute婊子；
ass 驴；
nasty下流；
evil魔鬼；
scamp流氓；
excrement臭狗屎
把这些英文字头放一起就是japanese—”
Um, yeah. I think I get the “implied” meaning. But what is so bad about being an adult? This whole situation, I think, could use more people who act like adults.
Yes, ‘implied poem’(藏头诗) is very popular in acient China. People use it to express their ideas( usually political ones) which they are not allowed to. But usually implied poems are very interesting, not like the one you read. :)
sounds like a beijinger wrote those instructions.
am i saying shanghainese are more rational, reasonable and cool headed than people from beijing, guangzhou and other places?
Well, let’s just say you won’t find me at that protest.
you shanghai fuckers are so typical. get off your high horse, you fuckin idiot!
tony,
i think you are in search of a shoe to lick. i’m guessing you prefer to have one from a jap. there are plety of japs where i live (bay area, CA), i can ask one of them to ship you one.
dont go for protest against japanese. without japan china cant develop. let just let history to be history. if still dont let it go, i would have to tell you the truth that our Communist government is the very one should be damned. think about it, who defeated japanese invasion? whose bleedingly crazy political campaign left 10 millions of chinese people starved to death? who killed thousands of students 1989? what does our history textbook say about this? huh!!!dont be silly my fellow chinese comrades
apparently, another boot licker…
Anonymous ,what position are you in?If you stand as high as our leaders of our Government,you may understand them a little more. I don’t quite know how to rule a country and how to make the whole country people live a better-off life,but I bet it’s quite hard to accomplish what we have done.
And,but for the former very big mistakes made by our former leader,we wouldn’t have experienced so much and achieved what we have now.I can only say,we learn a lot from the past.
But the Japan Issue is totally different from it. I hope I could have killed your mother,and still show no respect to you and your offsprings and let you feel more!But I won’t do that,never,because I am not a right-wing Japanese!
well…damn japanese…
thank you for understanding,Anonymous:)
And ,Dan,I read the email u posted, I guess the girl don’t know much about what the colleges and universities administrative leaders did.They called many students(including me) to ask them whether they would take part in it,and if the students said “yes”,the teachets would try to persuade them not to go there,stay calm and pay more attention to their study,”don’t disturb the ordinary Japanese’s life”is what my teacher asked me to do.
On Apr 16, 2005 4:40 PM, Anonymous said:
dont go for protest against japanese. without japan china cant develop. (without japan, im sure china can still develop. china economic growth right now is increasing far more rapidly than japan’s) let just let history to be history. (history to be history? what about the millions of civilians who have been murdered and humiliated? do you think the nazis and al quelda should not be eliminated and punished? )if still dont let it go, i would have to tell you the truth that our Communist government is the very one should be damned. (yes i agree and isn’t that why the 1989 protest occur in the first place? not many people still like the government anyways. what’s the connection between japanese genoicide with the communisim government anyways?)think about it, who defeated japanese invasion? whose bleedingly crazy political campaign left 10 millions of chinese people starved to death? who killed thousands of students 1989?(the american government fired into tens thousands of wwi veterans during the depression. kkk burned and terriozed thousands of blacks. more than half of the native americans population were killed by the whites(genocide). every country has its own mistakes) what does our history textbook say about this? huh!!!dont be silly my fellow chinese comrades( you are the one being silly. you betrayed your own country. the communism government’s killings are all in the textbook of other countries but not the japanese’s genocides. they are justified because japan is a “democratic” country.)
I really feel bad on all of you, except Bonnie.
On Apr 16, 2005 4:40 PM, Anonymous said:
dont go for protest against japanese. without japan china cant develop. let just let history to be history. if still dont let it go, i would have to tell you the truth that our Communist government is the very one should be damned. think about it, who defeated japanese invasion? whose bleedingly crazy political campaign left 10 millions of chinese people starved to death? who killed thousands of students 1989? what does our history textbook say about this? huh!!!dont be silly my fellow chinese comrades
____________________________________________________
our government might not be the best government on earth, but i don’t think it deserves to be damned yet (and btw, the figure on the deaths of students in 1989 is unconfirmed, so please be responsible to what you say)
you can sell your soul for money huh? just because the cat feeds you filthy rat doesn’t mean it’s not gonna eat you
genocide of 300000 chinese in nanjing doesn’t mean anything to you does it? raping more than 20000 women can be history? what if one of these women was your grandmother?
you don’t be silly…
and dan, don’t link anymore CNN stories please. while it criticizes chinese text books, it has made some very serious mistakes in some of their own news reports
and welcome to visit my blog
http://tofillthehour.blogspot.com/
though the protest cant solve the problem, it shows the patriotic sentiments of the young generation.we are the hope of the future china.the protest turned out to be in order.no body did sth too crazy. i believe one day we can force the dammed japenese pigs apologize.no matter how long we have to wait, we will wait till the day to come.
…thought I’d mention I posted some pics on my website. photojournaliste.ca
It was an interesting day… but most of the protesters seemed keen on having a good day out in the park than really protesting.
It must be very amusing for Americans to watch Chinese and Japanese slapping each other. But let’s make a list what Americans won’t read in their own textbook:
1)When they blame communist dictatorship in China, they don’t mention in the two decades before 1949 they supported a fascist dictator Chiang Kai-Shek conditionlessly, who commited a massacre on at least 30,000 communists in 1927, caused numerous famines, extremely corrupt, and even once declared Hitler as his model. This case is of course in line with their support for the other bloodthirsty dictators like Pinochet, etc.
2)When they blamed communists on attack on India, Vietnam, they don’t mention their own “military interventions. For example, in Vietnam, in order to root out communist sympathetists, they burned down the whole villages, slaughtering all people who did not follow them out promptly, including seniors, children, and pregnant women.
3)When they blame Chinese communists for supporting Kmer Rouge, they don’t mention their support for Pol Pot in the U.N., not to mention the numurous food, equipments over the Thai border, which is in consistency with their later support for Saddam in order to counter Iranians.
Just name a few!
I took the liberty of quoting from your blog in a newspaper column:
http://arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=62495&d=21&m=4&y=2005
Many thanks.
There’s an excellent page on two major and under-reported developments in Asia,
‘Japan Forges Strategic Link With India, Another Emerging Superpower’
and ‘India - Slumbering Superpower Flexes Its Muscles’
on the ‘New World Order Intelligence Update’ current news page.
There’s also a detailed and sobering warning on Iran, by Svott ritter, there -
‘Sleepwalking To Disaster In Iraq’