I have yet to notice anything like this, but Party Pooper’s post on rising anti-Chinese sentiment in Korea deserves a look. A snippet:
Most analysts agree that the beginning of the recent anti-China sentiments began with the accidental crash of Air China Boeing 767-200 passenger plane which resulted in the deaths of 115 South Korean passengers.
Also Monday, both President Jiang and Premier Zhu sent messagesto South Korean President Kim Dae-jung to express condolences overthe death of South Korean victims in the crash and to express gratitute to South Korea for its timely rescue work. (from the People’s Daily)
Unfortunately, the South Korean masses did not view an expression of condolences as sufficient, and angrily demanded that then President Jiang come directly to Seoul and apologize to the South Korean people on bended knees. Korean analysts also pointed out that the People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese government, intentionally misspelled “graditude” (see above quote), revealing the insincerity of Chinese officials. The pilot of the doomed craft was only 31 years old. South Korean media immediately demanded to know why the Chinese allowed such an inexperienced pilot to fly to Korea. The media questioned whether or not China felt South Korea was “important enough” to allow their more experienced pilots to handle flights to South Korea. South Koreans further became incensed when the Chinese did not allow the pilot to be “tried and found guilty as hell” in a South Korean court.
Like I said, I have yet to notice any rise in the level of anti-Chinese sentiment in Korea outside of certain groups, like fishermen and farmers, that have their own economic grievances with the Middle Kingdom. In fact, I’ve found the levels of anti-Chinese sentiment to be astonishingly low considering issues like North Korean refugees and Beijing’s relationship with Pyongyang. Still, the Pooper apparently feels something’s afoot, so hear him out.
(Hat tip to BigHo)
UPDATE: I think Kirk may be right on this one - the Pooper might be trying his hand at irony. If that’s the case, I feel kind of goofy for a) not picking that up right away and b) this post just got linked at PRC News.
6 Comments
Korea’s airlines actually have a worse safety record than Air China. The above example seems more like the standard xenophobia and gross immaturity of South Koreans regarding any and all outsiders when troubles arise. The Korean media coverage of that crash bordered on libelous.
Haven’t you ever heard Koreans deride Chinese? They love to say that Chinese are ‘dirty’ and ‘cheaters.’ I would say that they are taught to be anti-Chinese at a fairly young age, as I hear that sentiment among even the youngest kids I teach. It is unanimously the same reason when I am told by a Korean that they hate the Chinese– dirty and cheaters, the latter being a common theme in Asia and one I have heard as far away as Burma.
I think what it comes down to is that certain segments of Korean society will hate any country that is more powerful than Korea. They are taught from the beginning of their schooling that Korea is the greatest country ever to grace the face of the earth and then reality sets in that there are others greater in terms of money, power, military might, and so on. That would cause me some angst as well. Also there are the ‘civic groups’ whose soul existence is to stir shit up and find ‘reasons’ that society should hate this country or that.
In the case of the Chinese airliner going down, how about natural causes? Living fairly close to Busan, I can say that the weather SUCKED that day. Also wasn’t there some sort of ground radar unit that was out of order? I could be wrong on that. I know that the Korean Air plane that went down in Guam in 97 was due to that. (I wonder if people in Guam got pissed at Korea for crashing one of their planes on their tropical island paradise?)
As for refugees and Beijing’s relations with Pyongyang, I think that most Koreans could care less about either issue. Pyongyang is no longer a ‘threat’ since Kim Dae-jung bought his Nobel Peace Prize and who wants more “backward North Koreans” cramping the already tight job market?
The very idea of the Koreans criticizing another country’s air safety practices, with KAL the greatest airborne threat to human life since the kamakazis, is hilarious.
I think I would distinguish between popular anti-Chinese attitudes and social ones.
I have always been surprised how few Koreans blame China for the division of Korea or voice anger over Chinese activities shortly before the colonization of Korea by Japan even though they do blame the Russians for that period when all three nations were deeply involved.
In popular thougths on China, I think the average Korea sees a Great Yellow Hope —- they seem to take it for granted, for the most part, that an Asian “number one superpower” will be better than the US hegemon.
But…..when it comes down to things like the significant Chinese-Korean population in the South and more basic personal ethnic afinities, there is some clear anti-Chinese feelings.
Also, we do see some flare ups over issues like the Great Garlic War of a few years ago.
However, even here, these trade flare ups seem to me to remain isolated incidents….
they don’t seem to accumulate into the Big Bag of Hate like for the US.
Who has issues like the F-15K of 2001-02 placed along side the Kwangju Massacre of 1981.
Methinks perhaps you doth protest too much. Perhaps the Party Pooper is attempting irony: comparing the _lack_ of a South Korean reaction to the Air China crash to what might have happened had it been an American Airlines flight?
Just a thought.
Methinks you may be right, Mr. Larsen