Reassuring and Unnerving Japan } 717
Cup soccer match in Beijing. The Chinese audience on that occasion had set
the atmosphere when it booed as the Japanese national anthem was played at
the beginning of the match. Later, the Chinese audience was outraged when
a referee apparently missed a hand ball by one of the Japanese players, allow-
ing Japan to score. Japan’s victory on the soccer pitch further antagonized the
crowd. When the match finished, the Chinese audience turned into a mob,
in spite of the presence of several thousand police dressed with riot gear and
accompanied by dogs, backed up by soldiers. Thousands of Chinese jammed
the streets around the stadium, in which a thousand Japanese, who had come
to watch the game, were sheltered by Chinese police. The crowd chanted slo-
gans like “Down with little Japan,” “kill the dwarf pirates” (wokou—a strongly
racist invective equivalent to “Japs” or “Chinks” in English), and singing
anti-Japanese songs such as the 1930s wartime ditty “A Big Knife Chops Off
the Head of the Japanese Devils.” Japan’s flag was burned and the windows
of Japanese-brand cars smashed. After two hours, Chinese police were able to
secure the exit of the Japanese sports fans, after which the mob proceeded to
the Japanese embassy to continue venting their hatred of Japan.^19
Anti-Japanese demonstrations became popular. They erupted again in
April 2005 and quickly spread across China’s cities, threatening to escape
state control. This time the spark was Japan’s push to secure a permanent
seat in the UNSC, a proposal Chinese generally felt was radically inappropri-
ate. Another visit by Koizumi to the Yasukuni Shrine further exacerbated
Chinese emotions. Beijing encouraged an online petition opposing Japan’s
Security Council bid, and more than 22 million people quickly signed it.
Chinese newspapers reported daily on the diplomatic campaign for and
against Japan’s Security Council bid, encouraging readers to join in. To make
a strong statement, students in Beijing’s university district rallied and then
followed the by now traditional script of marching down Changan Avenue
to Tiananmen Square and then to the Japanese embassy. Banners and post-
ers condemned Japanese moves, called for boycotts of Japanese goods, and
insulted Japan and the Japanese in often very crude terms. “Down with
Japan” and “Smash Japan’s dream of obtaining a Security Council seat” were
poplar slogans. Windows of Japanese restaurants and Japanese-brand cars
were smashed. Once the mob arrived at the Japanese embassy, that building
was pelted with rocks, paint balloons, and bottles, while the mob shouted
anti-Japan slogans. A heavy police presence prevented entry into the embassy
compound, but did not otherwise interfere with the crowd’s protests.^20
The initial protest in Beijing ignited a flood of nationwide grass roots orga-
nizing activity, leading to anti-Japan protests a week later in twenty-one cit-
ies. Beijing sent an urgent directive to local governments ordering them to
exercise vigilance and maintain public order by exercising firm control over
the demonstrations. “Nationalism is a double-edged sword,” one prominent
campaigner for rural rights said of the upcoming anti-Japan protests. “It can