"We must kill all Japanese."

The People’s Republic of China and Japan are involved in a territorial dispute over some islands, like China is involved in a territorial dispute with the Philippines, like China is involved in a territorial dispute with Vietnam.  I do not know the merits of this territorial dispute and I don’t care to find out because China is eager to flex its muscles and is itching for a fight with someone.

The point of this post is that this is not just a dispute between two governments.  It is the people of China who want to fight someone. The execrable words above were on a banner* carried by demonstrators in China; tens of thousands of Chinese have been demonstrating in cities across the country. Japanese stores have been vandalized; Japanese-made cars have been overturned. There is an aggressive, racial nationalism at work in these demonstrations, one that has always been just below the surface in China, one exemplified by soldier-boy at top.

So, whatever the merits, I’m with the Japanese.

*The full wording of the banner, from the New York Times, is "Even if China is covered with graves, we must kill all Japanese."