I’ve been going to Wain Wain recently for business feasts with great vistas and slick décor in part to seem cool to my hipper associates, but also to check out the scarlet letters.

Wain Wain is the only place in Beijing I’ve been to packed with Japanese people, who seem under siege by a politically charged cityscape. Beijing’s tall buildings approach Wain Wain in countless numbers from the horizon like soldiers in a Forbidden City attack flick. Meanwhile, I see white knuckles, hear strange hurried Asian whispers, and gawk at it all.

Japanese aren’t the enemy to me. Atom bombs and “War Relocation Camps” ensure my sympathies.

But they are to plenty of Chinese people in whose minds the Rape of Nanking seems to be the equivalent of the Holocaust for us Westerners.

Back at Wain Wain, civilization is uber polite and chic (and anything but massacre-ish). The Chinese may be waking up to this contemporary reality, because as Cup of Cha suggests, things are changing in the party line over Japan:

Yesterday CCTV was flooded with documentaries about Japan, and nary a mention of Nanjing or WWII, the two staples of any Chinese story involving Japan. But perhaps the most telling signs, as they always tends to be, were on the country’s editorial pages. The English language version of China Daily had the headline ‘Seeds of Friendship,’ and gushed: ‘The two countries have walked a long way to put their relations back in good shape. Along with more contacts between their top leaders, the two countries are working hard on building stronger links among their young people. Less burdened by history, young generations find it easier to communicate and understand each other. Communication between young people can have a huge impact on bilateral relations.’

While Japan was responsible for the Rape of Nanking a long time ago, it wasn’t for the recent Rape of Peking. The West – and especially France - is with torch protests violating China’s sacred Olympic spirit.

China’s citizenry already has reacted by calling for Carrefour boycotts. Perhaps it also will react by rewarding those who come to its aid in this time of vulnerability, or at least don’t add injury to injury (like Japan, which did have its share of torch protesters, but they appeared to be very peaceful). Further, Japan vigorously supported the torch relay. According to the relay’s official website:

Japanese police guards in track suits surrounded the torchbearers and another 100 uniformed riot police ran alongside six patrol cars and two motorcycles. They were backed up by thousands of other officers.

To find out more about what could be behind Japan’s new rapprochement success with China – and potentially better Japanese guanxi as a result - consider attending the 11th Annual AmCham-JapanCham Social Golf.

“Beijing’s finest players” from Japan and the United States will compete on a course in Shunyi on Saturday, May 24, according to AmCham-China. Clearly, golf is a great chance to talk shop in China, and perhaps hear what the Japanese think about their new Chinese “friends.”

And it sounds like the perfect place to work on your swing (but not at China).

    Channel: What's Spicy     |