A Society Ready for Fascism — China’s War-Oriented Education and Its Danger

Published on March 9, 2017.
Drawing on a discussion featured in the latest issue of WiLL magazine, this essay examines China’s long-standing education that affirms violence and war, revealing the ever-present risk that Chinese society can rapidly turn fascistic, a reality Japan must never ignore.

2017-03-09
We Japanese must engrave deeply in our minds the fact that in a country called China, it is always possible for the entire population to become fascistic at once.
The latest issue of the monthly magazine WiLL features a roundtable discussion titled “A Cornered Xi Jinping, Seize the Islands,” with Fukushima Kaori, Miyawaki Junko, Sekihei, and Yang Haiying.
This is a fact that every Japanese citizen should know.
Omitted preceding text.
Fukushima.
Domestic education has long been education that affirms violence.
Since the 1980s, the World Values Survey has been conducted in various countries, asking whether people accept war as an option for the sake of the nation.
In the 1993 survey, only 2 percent of respondents in China answered “no.”
In other words, the overwhelming majority of the population was highly motivated toward war.
This survey is conducted every few years, and in the 2014 survey, the percentage answering “no” increased to 19 percent.
Even so, roughly 80 percent remain affirmative toward war.
Miyawaki.
That is quite a change.
Fukushima.
As I mentioned at the beginning, the consciousness of the Chinese people themselves is gradually changing.
Centered on urban areas, the middle class has been increasing, and people are beginning to want to protect their prosperous lives.
Sekihei.
What about Japan.
Fukushima.
When asked about “war as an option,” 40 to 50 percent of Japanese immediately answer “no.”
When asked whether they want to fight for their country, the figure is always below 20 percent, reportedly the lowest among the 100 countries surveyed worldwide.
Sekihei.
This is Japan’s major problem.
In postwar education, people have been indoctrinated with the idea that “war equals evil.”
In China, it is the complete opposite.
They have been taught that war is something wonderful.
Look at Japanese anime.
Can you imagine anime where children carry guns and kill enemies.
Yang.
One can say there are none.
Sekihei.
But in China, that is normal.
Within the national culture, engaging in war does not feel strange.
This is the dangerous point.
If China were ever to launch a war against Japan or Taiwan, many opponents of war would be forced into complete silence.
We Japanese must firmly bear in mind that in a country called China, it is always possible for the entire population to become fascistic.
This section continues in the next issue.