Taiwanese attacking Japanese in Taiwan

[torasan]

A letter to the editor (online) published in today's Taipei Times in Taiwan,
-- written by a longtime American expat there married to a Japanese woman -- says that some Taiwanese are attacking Japanese people there!!!!!

Read this letter and respond:


Headline of letter:

Stop anti-Japanese displays


Watching the recent racist demonstrations in China targeting the Japanese, you may think that this is some particular phenomenon only seen in China.

Think again. Anti-Japanese sentiment is alive and well in Taiwan, although not as visible. Ask any Japanese who lives and works here and you will hear a clearly disturbing pattern of intimidation and aggression.

One good friend told me that last week she and a friend were on the subway in Taipei chatting in Japanese when a Taiwanese man, after staring them down for some minutes, jumped to his feet and cursed at them and told them to shut up. Oddly, his tirade was in Japanese.

Another Japanese woman recalled that at a recent lunch with other Japanese, an elderly Taiwanese couple sitting at the next table had the audacity to interrupt her meal to berate her and Japan.

Yet another incident involved a female student at a well-known university here. The Japanese woman was walking in a hallway when she was surrounded by six male students and asked, none too politely, "Why do you think you own the Taoyutais?"

She was then physically shoved to the floor.!!!

Nearly every Japanese I have spoken with has a tale to tell, from having daggers shot at them from the eyes of some hateful person to actually being berated and threatened -- all from Taiwanese.

The Japanese here have said to me that they turn the other cheek in these encounters. They do not want to cause trouble or be the center of media attention, given the circus-like atmosphere that can ensue when someone's story comes out.

My hope is that if any Taiwanese see such behavior here that they stand up and make it clear to the offender that this is not acceptable.

-- Mark Wolfe, (from the USA, in Taiwan for 20 years)

Taipei

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2005/04/24/2003251870

[emperor]

Had the Japanese been cruel and hated occupiers between 1895 and 1949?
Maybe the people of Formosa/Taiwan only care about the Tiaoyutai islands and the oil+gas drilling & fishing rights that come with the territory?

[torasan]

Had the Japanese been cruel and hated occupiers between 1895 and 1949?
Maybe the people of Formosa/Taiwan only care about the Tiaoyutai islands and the oil+gas drilling & fishing rights that come with the territory?

Emperor, good question. the dates were 1895-1945.

No, this letter to the editor seems to signal a weird thing in Taiwan, because for the most part, Taiwanese look back fondly at the Japanese colonial period, where Japan thoroughly modernized Taiwan island with great infrastructure. There was some grumbling and resistane, but for the most part, the Japanese occupation was successful and left no bad taste in people's minds.

In addition, Japanese fashions, music, literature, movie, singers, movie stars are real popular in Taiwan now. Haruki Murakami is the most popular foreign author there and all his book have been translated for Taiwan readers, I heard.

So why, all of sudden, this sudden "attack" on some Japanese students, as seen in this letter? I don't get it either?

It's not ALL Taiwanese mind you, just some, a few minor incidents, it seems, but it might be the tip of the iceberg. And for students to do it to fellow students, wow.

This could become a major news story, if handled properly. I don't think the attacks are widespread. But if this letter writer is correct, then look out!

[blackcat]

torasan

" Taiwanese look back fondly at the Japanese colonial period"

You fucking didldo!

the elite taiwanese that collabated with the japanese did, the commoners that suffered the brutality HATED the japanese!

" the Japanese occupation was successful and left no bad taste in people's minds."

Its clear you were "éducated" in Japan :P

get your shit RIGHT.

[Mulboyne]

[torasan]

Despite Chin's vocal protests and demonstrations against Japan's attitude, Voyu said that such disgruntlement is not necessarily representative of the Aboriginal community in Taiwan. "The Aboriginal community is very diverse. There are some, like Chin, who remember the Japanese a certain way. However, there are also many Aboriginal elders that remember the period of Japanese colonial rule fondly," Voyu said.

Yes, from what I have heard, Taiwanese in general have good vibes about the Japan occupation period. In general. Like 80% positive vibes. So this news as reported in the above letter is shocking, especially coming from students at Taipei universities.

My good friend, Professor Yo Miuri, didn't want to post here personally, but he told me:

"Tora-san,
Re that letter you mentioned: Both China and Japan are stupid (Taiwan too). The whole anti-Japanese thing
revolves around the secret interring of war criminals at Yasukuni Shrine (in
1978, I think). They shouldn't be there because they did not die in battle,
they were hanged. One solution would be to remove the remains to another
site. And the removal should be made public (full TV spotlight). As far as
textbooks are concerned, show me one country that compiles unbiased history
textbooks. China? I think it highly doubtful that I would find any reference
to the Tibet and Tiananmen Square massacres or the famine caused by Mao
Zedong's backyard steelmaking scheme. The U.S.? Are the massacres against
the American Indians truly recorded? The U.K.? Is the history of the British
colonialists reported from the British side or the colonized?
The Japanese
must come to grips with its rightist element though. It should not allow
distorted history to be taught to kids, even though most kids don't care.
They are more interested in cell phones, the latest singing idol and sex."