Chinese Social Media Still Full of Anti-Japanese Posts 1 Month After Boy’s Fatal Stabbing; Malicious Videos Gain Large Number of Views

By Akiko Yoshinaga / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

20:00 JST, October 19, 2024

BEIJING — Even a month after a 10-year-old Japanese boy was fatally stabbed by a Chinese man in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, Chinese social media is still full of anti-Japanese posts.

On Sept. 18, a 44-year-old Chinese man fatally stabbed the boy on a road near a Japanese school.

Anti-Japanese comments on social media are said to have contributed to incidents in China in which Japanese nationals have become victims. Even now, there are still posts on Chinese social media that are hostile to Japanese schools in the country.

A Chinese-language news report released on Oct. 15 quoted a Japanese media source as saying that the Japanese school in Shenzhen resumed face-to-face classes. In response to this report, several unsubstantiated and malicious comments were posted on social media, saying things such as, “When will all the Japanese schools in China be eliminated?” and “They’re bases for training Japanese spies.”

In China, Japanese schools cannot open without the approval of the local government and other authorities, and therefore it cannot be an institution that trains spies, as is being spread on social media. Under Chinese law, textbooks and teaching staff are subject to supervision and checks by the local government.

Online videos that stir up anti-Japanese sentiment tend to get a huge number of views on Chinese social media, and they have been used to attract attention and interest. Chinese authorities can delete unfavorable posts using artificial intelligence. The fact that these malicious posts are not deleted may be because the government overlooks them so people can let off steam.

The Japanese government has requested the Chinese government to crackdown on anti-Japan posts, however, there is little hope that posts hostile to Japanese schools will be removed.

“The [Chinese] government tends to use historical issues when relations between the two countries are not good,” said Prof. Ichiro Korogi of Kanda University of International Studies, who specializes in modern Chinese studies. “It is essential for companies operating in China and individuals to try to protect themselves without making light of the risks.”