Polluted Water and Devils Across the Sea

The rage in China towards Japan is based on much more than polluted water.

Chinese news and social media have been apoplectic with rage over the Japanese government’s decision to release water containing trace amounts of radioactive pollution into the ocean.

Western commentators have generally covered the issue from a technical perspective, trying to parse through the details to determine how much of a risk this poses for human health. How much of the pollution was filtered out prior to the wastewater’s release? Which pollutants can’t be filtered out? Why did the International Atomic Energy Agency determine that the wastewater doesn’t pose a major risk to human health?

These are dizzyingly technical questions that require high degrees of nuance to answer, but the narrative in China is much simpler. In Chinese media – both social media and official, state-run media – the criticism of Japan has been scathing and absolute. It’s painfully obvious that the rage in China towards Japan is about so much more than polluted water.

The Media Landscape in China

State-run media outlets like The People’s Daily and The Global Times are stupefyingly predictable. Every day, they hammer home the view that Chinese leaders are busy, Chinese people are thriving, and foreign countries – particularly China’s geopolitical competitors – are chaotic and dangerous. Thus, it’s no surprise that they have been one-sidedly critical of Japan.

Social media tends to be even more nationalistic than top-down state media. In fact, dangerously jingoistic tirades that actively promote violence are censored more than any other type of content. Freedom fighters and democracy advocates usually self-censor (i.e., they usually don’t post in the first place) because they know what they’re up against, whereas xenophobic douchebags feel no such trepidation.

Historical Memory and Japan

Japan occupies a uniquely dark place in China’s collective historical memory. As ghastly historical events like the Rape of Nanjing and World War II (or as many Chinese folks call it, The War of Resistance Against Japan) recede further and further into the past, they loom even larger in the mainstream Chinese psyche.

I would never downplay the suffering Chinese folks endured during China’s so-called “century of humiliation.” Even so, I’m struck by the consistency with which Chinese media outlets compensate for slow news days by reminding people of some atrocity or another committed by the Japanese a long time ago. “Patriotic education” – a hyper nationalistic reading of history and social sciences shoved down the throats of Chinese youth – intentionally instills a deep hatred of Japan. Time has not healed these wounds; instead, they are rehashed ad infinitum.

Normalized Xenophobia

How is any of this related to polluted water in the ocean? Look at the picture and description below. It’s a screenshot I took from a viral video on Wechat, a universally used app in China. I took this screenshot on August 24, and as of August 30, the video had around 45,000 reactions.

The underlined sentence in the screenshot above says, “This is an ethnic group that shouldn’t exist.” Let that sink in: the “Hot Comment” promoted by the algorithm advocated ethnic cleansing.

The video itself is a pseudo-scientific, pseudo-intellectual criticism of the Japanese government’s decision to release nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean. I won’t waste my time dissecting the video’s points one by one because the video does not represent a good-faith attempt to carefully evaluate the situation. The dude who made the video, along with most of his viewers, are far more interested in venting rage than they are in deeply understanding the issue.

Attack on Titan and Devils Across the Sea

Discussing Japan with most (but to be fair, not all) Chinese folks reminds me of Attack on Titan, a tragically captivating Japanese animated horror-drama. In the show, a racial group called the Marleyans are constantly reminded that the Eldians – a racial group living on the island across the sea – are murderous devils who committed horrible atrocities and must pay for their sins. Children in Marley are required to memorize specific dates, names, and death tolls from atrocities committed by the Eldians in ancient times. Growing up in Marley, it’s virtually impossible to have a balanced view of the Eldians because the entire social and political ecosystem is designed to instill incorrigible resentment.

Likewise, it’s hard for Chinese folks to develop a nuanced perspective on China’s relationship with Japan. The sanctioning of hate piled on top of some genuinely horrific historical events is a terrible mix that can only be overcome by the most independent minds.

Do I wish Japanese authorities hadn’t released contaminated water into the ocean? Of course. But as I observe the outrage around me, it seems like Marleyans are once again telling themselves that Eldians are devils.