The Drums of War

The Chinese and Japanese do not like one another.  That goes back a long way.  I've been saying for years that Japan (and Germany) need to militarize and do it in a hurry.  The Axis is way ahead of us this time around.

Seen in Shanghai's Baoshan district along Jiangyang North Road some time after 10am yesterday: A man unfurls anti-Japanese banners ("Defeat the Japanese devils!", "Japanese devils return home!") outside a Honda dealer, and sets fire to his own Honda Civic.

About half an hour after I wrote the above, I stumbled across this article...

China’s most powerful military leader, in an unusual public statement, last week ordered military forces to prepare for combat, as Chinese warships deployed to waters near disputed islands and anti-Japan protests throughout the country turned violent. 

Protests against the Japanese government’s purchase of three privately held islands in the Senkakus chain led to mass street protests, the burning of Japanese flags, and attacks on Japanese businesses and cars in several cities. Some carried signs that read “Kill all Japanese,” and “Fight to the Death” over disputed islands. One sign urged China to threaten a nuclear strike against Japan.

And by way of background, Maps published in China and Taiwan in the 1960s clearly show the islands as Japanese territory. There was little interest in the islands until a geological surveys released in 1968 and 1972 reported their might be oil and minerals around the islands.