China Trauma Analysis
It is said that the trauma of the Chinese people stems from their defeat by the Japanese—a people they had long considered inferior to themselves.
June 19, 2020
Furthermore, their hatred is turned on and off like a faucet, depending on the political climate, always ready to be unleashed when needed.
The constant intrusion of four military-class vessels belonging to the China Coast Guard into the waters of the Senkaku Islands is a direct expression of their belief in power.
All three of these chapters have been subjected to search suppression and do not appear in search results.
Ms. Yoshiko Sakurai is, in the truest sense, a “national treasure” as once defined by Saichō.
She is the ultimate treasure.
Her weekly column “Renaissance” appears at the end of Shukan Shincho alongside Masayuki Takayama.
The current installment, titled “Never Forget the National Humiliation (Editor’s note: a concept rooted deeply in the Chinese psyche), the Dark Driving Force of China,” is essential reading not only for Japanese citizens but for people around the world.

Despite having spread the Wuhan virus globally and caused over 430,000 deaths, neither the Chinese government nor the Chinese people have shown any signs of remorse.
On the contrary, they now boldly claim that China alone is fit to establish the new world order and lead the world.
Where does such arrogance come from?
This question is surely shared not only by Japan but by many across the world.
The book by Wang Zheng, titled How China’s Historical Perception Was Formed (Toyo Keizai Inc., translated by Makoto Ito), provides a clear answer.
Wang emphasizes that Chinese people believe the Han race is the most superior among all peoples.
Historically, they have referred to surrounding peoples as Eastern Barbarians, Western Rong, Southern Barbarians, and Northern Di—viewing them all as uncivilized.
They have long prided themselves on their advanced culture and moral governance, holding neighboring peoples in disdain.
In this sense, China is a society deeply tinted with racial superiority.
Yet, paradoxically, it has shown openness toward “barbarians” willing to assimilate into Chinese civilization.
Wang argues that to understand the Chinese mindset, one must know the three elements that underpin their pride and patriotism:
A sense of chosenness
National mythology
Trauma
The sense of chosenness dates back to ancient times, when Chinese believed they were the divinely chosen people living at the center of the world.
As Chinese philosophy, customs, and script spread to neighboring countries and fostered “master-disciple” relations, their belief in the universality and superiority of Chinese civilization was cemented.
This belief became entrenched as myth.
But it was shattered during what is known as “The Century of Humiliation,” which forms the third pillar—trauma.
The Century of Humiliation consists of six wars:
First Opium War (1840–1842)
Second Opium War (1856–1860)
First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895)
Boxer Rebellion (1900)
Manchurian Incident (1931)
Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)
What stands out to us Japanese is that four of the six conflicts involved Japan.
In both the First Sino-Japanese War and the Boxer Rebellion, China suffered crushing defeats.
Japan’s victories were absolute.
Although China considers itself the victor of the Second Sino-Japanese War, this was only because Japan was defeated by the United States.
Even this “victory” left Chinese pride wounded.
The cover of Wang’s book asks, “Why do the Chinese hate the Japanese so much?”
Chapter 3 quotes Chiang Kai-shek writing repeatedly in his diary: “I must record my plans to destroy the Japanese and avenge our national humiliation.”
Indeed, the trauma of the Chinese stems from their defeat at the hands of the Japanese—a people they had believed to be inferior.
As such, it is vital for the Japanese to understand that this hatred toward us is exceptional in its intensity.
And this hatred can be turned on and off, depending on political expediency, always ready to strike when needed.
Wang stresses that unless one understands the combination of chosenness, mythology, and trauma rooted deeply in Chinese society, one cannot truly grasp modern Chinese behavior or the geopolitical strategies of the Chinese Communist Party.
To the chosen people, pride is everything.
As Xi Jinping declared in his speech at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party in October 2017, China is building its economic and military strength and believes it must rise above all other nations.
They are convinced they deserve to be admired and respected as teachers of morality and leaders of civilization.
Therefore, they cannot tolerate even the slightest criticism.
One example is their extreme overreaction to an article by U.S. political scientist Walter Mead in The Wall Street Journal, which criticized China’s handling of the Wuhan virus and the broader economic fallout.
The headline called China “the real sick man of Asia.”
Enraged, the Chinese government expelled three Beijing-based WSJ correspondents on February 19—none of whom had anything to do with Mead’s article.
The chosen people are proud.
As Xi Jinping stated in his speech at the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on October 18, 2017, the Chinese believe that with enhanced economic and military power, their nation should tower above all others in the world.
They are convinced that, as a country meant to guide and teach values to all peoples, China deserves to be respected and admired.
Therefore, they cannot tolerate even the slightest criticism.
One example of their extreme overreaction was the fury sparked by an article in The Wall Street Journal by American political scientist Walter Mead, which criticized China’s early mishandling of the Wuhan virus and its impact on the economy.
The article’s headline called China “the real sick man of Asia.”
The Chinese government, in an act that seemed emotionally uncontrolled, responded on February 19 by expelling three of the paper’s Beijing-based correspondents—none of whom had any involvement in the article.
A man of Australian nationality sentenced to death.
China sealed off the city of Wuhan, home to 11 million people, overnight.
It suppressed all reporting on the situation.
Nevertheless, it claimed credit for being the first to contain the Wuhan virus.
Now it flaunts this “achievement” to present Chinese norms to the international community.
Believing this is an opportunity to expand their power, they are deploying every means at their disposal.
When Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated on April 23 that an independent international investigation should be conducted into the origins of the Wuhan virus—a perfectly reasonable demand from our perspective—China retaliated on May 12 by imposing restrictions on imports of Australian agricultural products.
On June 5, it claimed that discrimination against Chinese people was increasing in Australia and warned its citizens to avoid traveling there.
Then on June 10, the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court sentenced an Australian man accused of drug smuggling to death.
They are making use not only of economic power but also of judicial power as they please.
Because the Chinese Communist Party is an extralegal entity standing above all three branches of government, it can do whatever it wants.

＊While opposition parties such as the Constitutional Democratic Party, as well as media outlets like the Asahi Shimbun and NHK, are wasting their time attacking the government over claims that extending the retirement age of prosecutors constitutes a violation of the separation of powers, they ought to be scrutinizing the grotesque overreach of the Chinese Communist Party instead.＊

Needless to say, they are also maximizing the use of their military power, as is evident in China’s naval and air operations in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
The constant intrusion of four China Coast Guard vessels—military ships in all but name—into the waters near the Senkaku Islands is a reflection of their worship of power.
The international community must recognize that what drives China is the force embedded in the term “national humiliation.”
Mr. Wang warns us of this.
Chinese children are taught from a young age the phrase “Never forget national humiliation” (勿忘国恥).
They are instilled with resentment and anger toward the atrocities committed by the great powers, particularly Japan.
That grinding resentment toward national humiliation becomes the engine powering their fervent desire for the revival of the Chinese nation.
After the Cultural Revolution revealed the errors of Maoism and the collapse of the Soviet Union during the Cold War exposed the failure of communism, the Chinese Communist Party faced an ideological vacuum.
Without a new ideology to replace Marxist-Leninist ideals, the very legitimacy of the Party would vanish.
The ideology that filled this vacuum was patriotism and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
And central to that patriotism was the phrase “Never forget national humiliation,” which has since become the spiritual pillar sustaining the survival of the Chinese Communist Party.
Japan’s only path to survival is to strengthen multilateral cooperation that can constrain China’s increasingly aggressive posture.