Tiananmen and the Birth of the Anti-Japan “History War.”—How China Turned Crisis into Propaganda Strategy.
This essay examines how the Chinese Communist Party, isolated after the Tiananmen Square incident, intensified its anti-Japan historical narrative campaign through patriotic education and overseas Chinese networks.
It explores the geopolitical background behind the global spread of wartime historical accusations against Japan.
At the same time, as the “brutal and inhumane” nature of the Chinese regime was exposed, overseas Chinese communities also found themselves in a difficult position.
January 9, 2018.
The following continues from the previous chapter.
Tiananmen exposed the regime’s true nature.
During the 1990s, when Jiang Zemin was state president, China established across the country a series of “anti-Japan bases” under the name of patriotic education model sites.
In parallel, it mobilized Chinese communities in the United States and elsewhere, launching campaigns devoted to spreading fabricated historical narratives such as the “Nanjing Massacre” and to pursuing war responsibility claims against Japan.
Why?.
Because China at the time had fallen into a serious crisis.
In June 1989, while benefiting largely from Japanese capital under Deng Xiaoping’s reform and opening policies, the Tiananmen Square incident—during which young people calling for democratization were run over by armored vehicles of the People’s Liberation Army and shot down, resulting in massive casualties—was reported worldwide.
At a time when the Berlin Wall still barely stood, even beyond Western societies where the values of freedom, democracy, and human rights were strong, the world instantly recognized the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party and chose to distance itself.
At the same time, as the “brutal and inhumane” nature of the Chinese regime was exposed, overseas Chinese communities also found themselves in a difficult position.
Soon after, the Soviet Union collapsed, and criticism of communism intensified further.
Under such circumstances, the “ultra-C” strategy was a “history war” in which China would pose as a victim and thoroughly discredit Japan.
To be continued.
