In the recent dispute between China and Japan over a collision between a Chinese fishing boat and a Japanese vessel off the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), Japan did the US a favor by covering up its lack of political resolve. However, if we think in more positive terms, the way in which Japan started out strong but eventually caved in to China had some merit because it helped reveal China’s hegemonic nature.
China’s behavior proves that the lives of people in China are worthless to their government — when they exercise their “constitutional rights” they are thrown in jail. Overseas, however, and especially in Japan, the lives of Chinese people do mean something to Beijing, which goes out of its way to protect its citizens, completely disregarding whether they are in the wrong.
