City’s Land | I am still sad for that Japanese boy

He is 10 years old, his father is Japanese, and his mother is Chinese. I guess his mother’s surname is Shen, so he has a Chinese name and can be called “Shen Mou”.

He was stabbed 200 meters away from the school. The murderer was arrested, and the boy was sent to the hospital, but he could not be saved. It is said that he was accompanied by his mother to school, and the tragic scene of the stabbing must have caused his mother to feel heartbroken.

She will cry, and the crying must be in her mother tongue, Chinese.

This boy reminds me of the translation volunteers who helped me a lot when I was visiting Japan in 2019. She was studying for a master’s degree at Waseda University, her mother is from Beijing, and her father is Japanese.

She grew up in Beijing and speaks Beijing dialect. When she was in elementary school, her classmates were curious about her name, “You are Japanese!” The Beijing Olympics made her feel proud, but this curiosity also made her feel pressured. She was deeply confused about what “her own country” is.

Once, there were many Japanese restaurants and Japanese-style cafes in Shanghai, and “Japanese style” represented a civilized life. Even in a western city like Chengdu, Japanese aesthetics still have a continuous attraction to young people.

However, in the past decade, great changes have taken place in the Chinese public opinion field. Especially the understanding of “Japan” has become extremely polarized.

On the Internet, “anti-Japanese rhetoric” based on the narrative of the nation-state has begun to increase and dominate the Internet. People who are committed to friendly exchanges between China and Japan have gradually been marginalized and even encountered “Internet clearing”.

The remarks on the Internet are not virtual. Traffic is annoying, but traffic also proves that “many people believe in the same thing”, which is the new reality, the new force.

This force will sooner or later overflow the screen and affect the “real world” – even, this is the reality itself.

This “new force” is secretive and even able to transcend reality. Last summer, I talked with a Chengdu police uncle, and I asked him: If someone wears a kimono on the street and passers-by call the police, will you send the police?

“We are very tolerant in this regard in Chengdu.”

“What if someone wears it on Chunxi Road? What if it’s on 9.18 or 7.7?”

He was not so sure, “We must pay attention in specific situations.”

This is that kind of power. It is invisible and ambiguous, but it is so clear.

Has China’s foreign policy towards Japan changed? No. No city does not want to develop its economy and is eager to attract foreign investment. Last year, Jiangsu also sent a large delegation to Japan to improve relations and strengthen economic and trade exchanges.

However, even local governments will feel that mysterious force originating from the Internet.

This is a big problem facing China today. Cities with “Japanese schools” will strengthen security and prevention, but this cannot fundamentally solve the problem, because you cannot protect people 24 hours a day, in all directions. As long as that force continues to exist and strengthen, it can pose a threat.

I even doubt that a “severe crackdown” on the Internet may not be useful, because it was not formed in a day or two, but is the result of a long-term social interaction and shaping.

As ordinary individuals, of course, they will feel powerless. However, everyone also bears some responsibility for today’s situation. Yes, you are just a drop of water in the ocean, you can’t decide anything, but what kind of drop of water are you? This question is still meaningful to you.

Today, I personally will openly and frankly admit that I feel sad and angry about the death of that Japanese boy.

This sadness is not because his mother is Chinese, and he and his mother both speak Chinese; nor is it because he is Japanese, an “international friend”, but because he is a beautiful life.