So what are we to make of officially instigated acts of burning Japanese flags?
From the linked AP article.
Says the article:
China on Sunday broke off high-level government contacts with Japan over the extended detention of a fishing boat captain arrested near disputed islands. The rare move pushed already tense relations to a new low, and showed China's willingness to play hardball with its Asian rival on issues of territorial integrity.
It came a day after anti-Japanese protests broke out across China on the anniversary of the start of a brutal Japanese invasion of China in 1931 that has historically cast a shadow over ties between what are now the world's second and third-largest economies.
China turns the anti-Japanese mobs on and off to suit state policy. Really, the Communist Party of China is in no position to make accusations of brutality.
Ah, it seems like only yesterday that analysts over here were envious of China's soft power that was making friends and influencing people.
UPDATE: Japan wants China to tone it down:
Japan urged China to remain calm and not inflame their diplomatic spat further Monday after Beijing severed high-level contacts and then called off a visit by Japanese youth over the detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain near disputed islands.
And while China is doing the protesting now, Japan could soon have their own issue to hit China with:
In a possible sign of further turbulence ahead, Shikata, the Japanese spokesman, said the government was monitoring reports that China could be preparing to begin drilling in a disputed East China Sea gas deposit in violation of a 2008 agreement between the two nations.
That soft power is going to leave a mark, if it keeps up at this rate.
