Fred Hiatt: China’s Selective Memory
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao explained last week: “Japan needs to face up to history squarely.” After another weekend of anti-Japanese protests and riots in China, China’s foreign minister yesterday amplified that “the main problem now is that the Japanese government has done a series of things that have hurt the feelings of the Chinese people . . . especially in its treatment of history.”
Truth in history is an interesting standard for great-power status. One intriguing response would be for Japan to embrace it and suggest politely that, if China wants to keep its Security Council seat, it ought to do the same.
