War and peace

China’s silence on the rowdy protest against Japan, which has entered the second day, is intriguing to say the least. On Sunday around 20,000 anti-Japanese protesters took to the streets of two cities in southern China. This came one day after more than 10,000 protestors on Saturday marched through Beijing, hurling rocks, bottles and eggs and shouting abuse at the Japanese embassy and the residence of the Japanese ambassador. The rioters want Japan face up to its wartime past, which is fair game in China, considering Japan’s bloody occupation up to 1945, the most infamous incident being the 1937 massacre by Japanese troops of both soldiers and civilians in Nanjing. The protestors are also angered by Japan's bid for a UN Security Council seat. Predictably, Japan has made a formal diplomatic protest over the embassy attack. And no apology was forthcoming from Beijing.
Tensions of this sort if not contained at the right time could get out of hand and could turn into confrontations. Already the opinion is that this is the worst time of bilateral relations between the two countries since diplomatic ties were established in 1972. Apart from the UN seat and test book issues, relations between the two Asian economic giants have not been on an even keel. In December, Japan for the first time listed China as a potential threat. The two have also demanded the other halt projects to explore for oil and gas in disputed areas of the East China Sea. And the irony of all this is that bilateral trade is booming and the two economies are becoming increasingly interdependent. In 2004 China replaced the United States as Japan's biggest trading partner for the first time. And Japanese firms are queuing up to set operations in China, drawn by the country’s pool of cheap labor and growing middle-class market.
Harping on the injustices of the past to justify the provocations of the present does not do good to China’s image as a responsible Asian power on its way to greater glory as the fastest growing economy in the world. Nationalism in the extreme could turn into jinjoism, which is not the way to go for the two. The irony here is that in the age of globalisation, the economic interests of the both countries are symmetrical. The problems between them are actually old issues. Therefore, it is better to let bygones be bygones and move ahead.

This is an editorial published in Oman Tribune