It is reported that China is in the grip of mass demonstrations against all things Japanese. I’m sure it’s true, but then again…what about this? If this is accurate, here we have a serious rising that chased off the police and the local administration, with no sign of “anti-Japanese”. Two things come to mind: one, that a good hate campaign is a time honoured Communist device to divert criticism. As late as 1968 the Polish Party was at it with an anti-Jewish propaganda drive to take minds off next door. The other is that, if you are a Chinese communist official faced with this, wouldn’t you be tempted to give out that it was all about Japan?
Another point: this has happened exactly where you might have expected it, neither in the big city nor in the dirt-poor backwoods, but in the zone of transition between the two.