Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso put on a veritable clinic on pissing off your largest neighbor Saturday by not only referring to Taiwan as a country, but also by praising the role Japanese colonialism played in the territory, especially in the field of education. As HK Dave pointed out at Simon World:
Aso effectively hit on all three of China’s psychohistorical bugbears: 1) Its past as the “Gateaux Chinois”, carved up by the imperialist powers a century ago, kicked off by the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 (that made Taiwan a colony of Japan); 2) The ongoing efforts of Taiwan to become an independent country; and 3) the wartime atrocities of Japan in China during World War II.
Pretty impressive, actually.
UPDATE: SBS TV (Korean) is astonished:
Japanese Foreign Minister Aso, who is famous for his outrageous utterances, has made a statement justifying colonial rule over Taiwan.
But Taiwan, which naturally should be angry, is instead agreeing with him.
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“But Taiwan, which naturally should be angry, is instead agreeing with him.”
I think the Taiwanese see that it’s much better to be a friend to Japan than a province of China.
I’ve asked several Taiwanese about their Japanese experience and they all agree it was a positive experience. You have to realize that in 1895 those people didn’t have much or any Chinese identity. Plus, the nature of the occupation was quite different than in Korea and once the KMT came over it actually got a whole lot worse for a lot of the natives.
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[...] After Japan’s FM Taro Aso managed to piss off China on every possible front by calling Taiwan a country and saying that Japanese colonialism actually did a lot of good for the island nation. Then, via the always-awesome Marmot I see this translation of a Korean news article. [...]