Sino-Japanese relations seem to have reached a new low. Following a long dispute over islands in the South China sea, that both countries vehemently defend as their own, a verbal spat now threatens to curb even diplomatic communications, as both countries fell deeper into a spat that shows no signs of relenting.
Name calling in Asia is a very deep sign of distress. China accused Japan of trying to justify war crimes by constantly revisiting the shrine dedicated to the fallen in the Second World War. The Prime Minister in fact, revisited the tradition, even though China has for years asked that the ceremony be voided. Many of the soldiers honored at the shrine were part of the massacre and destruction in Nanking, an episode for which Japan has never apologized.
In retaliation, Japan is now calling Beijing "Lord Voldermort" after the evil wizard in Harry Potter. Japan is claiming that China is intent in fomenting war, by escalating tensions and spending untold amounts in a feverish arms race.
It seems almost unthinkable that the two countries would be at such short ends. But at this point there seems little can be done to calm things down quickly.
For his part, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose visit to the war shrine in Yasukuni sparked the verbal spat, has asked that he be given the chance to explain why he has traveled to the shrine, to, in effect, be able to give his reasons for his actions.
China however, did not miss a beat: to the "lord Voldemort" accusation, it responded by saying that Japan is the 'Horcrux', or the receptacle of fragments of evil souls whose congregation in the horcrux allows them to achieve immortality.
Source : France Presse/ 1.5.14
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