Back from Hong Kong, and something smells fishy

Well, I just got back to Japan from a three day weekend trip to Hong Kong. It was my birthday on Saturday and I found an insanely cheap ticket to head there for three days, so I figured why the heck not? Get in some good food, maybe do some shopping and relax a bit.

I'll post more pics and reviews of stuff I ate and saw and bought later, but there's one thing I wanted to touch on first.

If you are in Japan right now or Hong Kong, all that they're talking about on the news is the flareup about the disputed islands - with both China and Japan claiming their rights to the small island group (called the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Daioyu in China). Of course they've been effectively in Japanese control since the late 19th century (and were returned to Japan by the US in 1971) and have only recently come into China's focus with the discovery of natural resources in the waters near by. More info at the wikipedia entry.

Anyway, in both Hong Kong and Japan the news is having a field day about anti-Japanese demonstrations all across China that have lead to riots, destruction of Japanese cars and businesses selling food and products from Japan, and a lot of hand-wringing about a possible deterioration in relations, which matters a ton from a trade point of view.

I have a few thoughts on the subject:

Personally, it feels like a fake use of anti-Japanese sentiment by communist China that's now gone out of control.

Of course in the major media in Japan they only show droves of protestors chanting in Chinese cities, smashing windows and the usual vandalism. But while I was in Hong Kong they showed another side of the events. On the news they showed protestors waiting their turn in front of cameras on sidewalks and a very peaceful looking atmosphere before the ugliness. Yes, now it has gotten out of control in many cities, but I don't think it started that way.

The pic I posted above is of a protestor I saw at a small demonstration by Central Station while I was there. Pull back and you see just how big this event was:

I think there are about 3 photographers per protestor. I did see there was a bigger protest elsewhere, but trust me, the crazed anti-Japan fever you see on TV in mainland China was nowhere to be seen.

My 2nd thought, then, is that if it all started as a staged event by the Chinese government, which has used anti-Japanese feelings in the past to direct anger away from the communist party, then it's a very very dangerous game they're playing. Get people agitated to make headlines, then arrest them when it goes out of control? Feels like a recipe for disaster.

More to come on the subject later.

Oh, and I wanted to mention a group of young 20-something girls showed up to protest a few minutes after I arrived, and all cameras instantly switched to them, which made it feel more like a cosplay photo shoot in Akihabara than any kind of political rally. Ah well.