Protestors assaulted the Japanese consulate as Chinese-Japanese relations reach the lowest point since World War II.
20,000 protestors attacked the Japanese consulate in Shanghai by spraying paint, breaking bottles knocking out windows. While Japanese companies say these riots won’t affect business, the Nikkei Stock Exchange had the largest drop in nearly a year at 3.80%.
Potential problems include the excitement of potential growth in Chinese markets as the Chinese surpassed the United States as Japan’s biggest trading partner. Many Japanese companies anticipated huge opportunities for growth from the largest populated nation in the world.
While China and Japan have long and intertwining history however atrocities during the Japanese invasion of China before and during WWII remain a major source of bad blood. Recent troubles started as Japan vies for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.
Also, a recent Japanese history book minimizes the Japanese invasion of China although Chinese citizens remember the rape and murder the Japanese inflicted on them during WII combined with the Japanese Prime Minister visiting a shrine honoring war criminals.
While Japanese businesses say they’ve not been affected by current protests but facts suggest otherwise. Sony was hacked with anti-Japanese messages.
According to a report in BusinessWeek, Japanese automaker Isuzu was boycotted because of the company president’s affiliation with the new history book.
Japanese owned grocery stores were closed while vandals sprayed paint and kicked over garbage cans and Asahi Breweries Ltd had product pulled from shelves in Chinese grocery stores.
Many observers say the bad blood will continue to flow until the Japanese recognize their history and attempt to make amends for it.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
