China is dissatisfied with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's reiteration of his position and policy that "whatever happens to Taiwan means something goes wrong to Japan." Since last year, China has been making small moves. Senior media person Akio Yaita pointed out that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun recently removed Takaichi Sanae's title. When referring to Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, he only referred to him as "the current head of Japan's defense department" but deliberately did not mention his name. Akio Yaita bluntly said, why should we downgrade the names of foreign leaders? To put it bluntly, if there is nothing you can do against the other party in reality, you should first take advantage of it in language.
Akio Yaita pointed out in a Facebook post that China’s diplomacy has recently made an interesting move. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was "downgraded". On September 30, when Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun talked about Japan’s nuclear weapons issue, he mentioned Gao Shi’s speech in February this year. The strange thing is that he did not say "Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae" as usual, but directly said "Takaichi Sanae". The words "Japanese Prime Minister" are missing, as is the official written record of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Akio Yaita believes that this should be more than just a linguistic omission.
Please read on...
Akio Yaita said that Beijing’s dissatisfaction with the Gao City Government has increased significantly recently. At the same press conference, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also referred to Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi as "the current head of Japan's defense department" and even deliberately did not mention his name. So, it’s worth watching next. Because looking back at the CCP’s past political propaganda, whenever we dislike a person, we often gradually “downgrade” the name he is given.
The first step is to remove the official title. Originally it was "President so-and-so" and "General Secretary so-and-so", but if the relationship got bad, we would first remove the previous titles and call them by their first names. Especially during the Cultural Revolution, leaders of “hostile countries” considered by China were often addressed by their first names. What I want to express is probably: "I know you are the president, but I just don't call you president." This is quite polite.
The second step is to start adding adjectives and labeling in front of the name. For example, "war monger Dulles", "imperialist leader Richard Nixon", "Japanese reactionary leader Eisaku Sato" and so on. This trick is not only used on foreigners, but also on our own people. After Chinese President Liu Shaoqi was overthrown, the 1968 CCP Central Committee document directly labeled him with three labels: "traitor, traitor, and scab."
The third step is more interesting. Even the political label was too tactful, so I just started giving him nicknames. The most classic one is the former Soviet leader Khrushchev. When Sino-Soviet relations were good, it was "Comrade Khrushchev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union." After falling out, he first became "Khrushchev" and later became "revisionist leader". In the end, because Khrushchev was bald, the Chinese propaganda department simply gave him three words: "Khrushchev".
Akio Yaita analyzes why the names of foreign leaders should be downgraded? To put it bluntly, if you can't do anything against the other party in reality, you should take advantage of it in language first, which can at least make you feel more comfortable. This is probably the "Ah Q spirit" described by Mr. Lu Xun.
Akio Yaita said bluntly, so the next "title" for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will continue to be downgraded? Well worth observing.
