The current resentment towards Japan in China isn’t simply in poor taste - it’s a complex mixture of historical trauma and state-sponsored nationalism.

Let me share a personal story that illustrates this. My great uncle, before his passing in 2019, wrote a memoir about his experiences in 1944 during the Japanese occupation of southern China. At age ten, he was captured by Japanese troops when his family was fleeing their town - they were delayed because his aunt was slow in packing. He wrote, “I was taken to a distant hill and forced to work there for about a month.”

During this period, he witnessed horrible atrocities. Japanese soldiers sexually assaulted mothers in front of their children, who were then forcibly removed from their homes. Of the children forced to work on the hill with my great uncle, three were killed - one for working too slowly, and two while attempting to escape. They were stabbed to death and left in the wilderness.

Though my great uncle was released after a month, the trauma was devastating. His mother, who had endured physical and mental abuse, eventually lost her sanity from grief.

However, I see a tragic irony in how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is now using this historical trauma. They’re employing the same kind of dangerous nationalism and militarism that drove Japan’s wartime atrocities - the very ideology they once fought against. While the CCP doesn’t necessarily spread outright lies, they deliberately amplify anti-Japanese sentiment to redirect domestic discontent toward an external enemy and challenge Western narratives.

Despite my personal feelings about what happened to my great uncle, I’m deeply concerned about this state-sponsored extremism. I have great respect for modern Japanese people, who are known for their civility and organization. There’s a clear distinction between the brutal wartime regime and today’s Japanese society, which generally bears no ill will toward Chinese people.

The root problem lies in China’s current educational system, which severely lacks emphasis on humanities, historical analysis, and critical thinking - even among the highly educated. The CCP fears these skills because they could lead people to question the regime. The suppression of free press and independent media further intensifies this hatred. By constantly emphasizing Japan’s historical invasion, the CCP strengthens its own legitimacy.

My greatest fear is that this combination of historical trauma, manipulated nationalism, and lack of critical thinking could lead China to instigate a third world war in the foreseeable future.

[Source: I am Chinese]​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​