Post's coverage of Sino-Japanese matters (#80; Topic J)

Yesterday, in a forum for publishers, a fellow publisher laments the "bias" of a leading New York newspaper, to which I responded with "One needs to read a variety of sources and form an independent opinion." This got me into thinking: how does our local paper, the Washington Post, fare in reporting Sino-Japanese matters? My conclusion: the Post delights in reporting events unfavorable to China but shuns those unfavorable to Japan. About ten days ago, there was a big debate in Japan concerning its emperor's visiting shrine for war criminals; the Post was silent. Only a friend's sending me an Agence-France Presse release from Japan allowed me to do an entry (#59). A day or two ago, a spokesman for Japan's prime minister talked fondly of its days in Taiwan -- days that will never return. Though without any news value whatsoever, the Post saw fit to publish it. On 2/7/06, the People's Daily - Overseas Edition's lead story is on the International Security Policy Conference in Munich, held on 2/5/06. After formal presentations, Germany's secretary of interior, Henning, asked the Japanese representative: "Please explain why your prime ministerKoisumi insisted on visiting the shrine containing remains of war criminals." Caught by surprise, the Japanese representative mumbled that it was to "apologize for the 'problem' created." In response, Zhang Zhi-jun, the Chinese envoy, said: "This was not a 'problem;' it is a war crime. Japan's brutality caused 35 million deaths and wounded in China. ... Show your courage; don't throw salt on wounds. In Germany, publicizing Nazi symbols is prohibited." Amid the delegates' applause to what Zhang said, the Japanese representative, to hide his embarrassment, brought his water glass to his lips. (The People's Daily is in Chinese; the above is my translation.) Of course, the Post is silent on the entire proceedings. So, reading a variety of sources is one way to be informed. Indeed, with readers' help, providing materials from a variety of sources, we can report, in this space, events the Post deems unfit to print because of their negative connotation to Japan.
Posted at 11:43 am, Saturday, February 11, 2006