Is "Okinawa" actually part of China? Then Aragaki Yui, will she also become Chinese? In recent months, media from various countries have observed that China seems to have started a wave of "Okinawa awareness war" on Douyin ! Not only have there been many videos shouting "Ryukyu does not belong to Japan", there are even videos saying that Ryukyu should "return" to China. What is going on? Today, let’s talk about the “Okinawa Awareness War”! Hiho~ Hello everyone, I am Zhiqi! This year, a large number of videos related to "Ryukyu" or Okinawa suddenly appeared on Twitter and Douyin. Many of the contents of these videos are promoting "Okinawa does not belong to Japan"! There are also some videos that use the "Governor of Okinawa's visit to China" to promote "China and Ryukyu are one family" . Many of the contents echo the "undecided status of Ryukyu" previously advocated by Chinese scholars. According to the independent media "Reporter" "Survey of this type of videos mainly increased at two timings this year. One was after the "G7 Foreign Ministers' Summit" in mid-April, and the other was after the "Okinawa Governor's visit to China" in July. The timing is very sensitive. Moreover, Xi Jinping has recently rarely used "Ryukyu" to refer to Okinawa, which is very unusual! Various coincidences and political actions have led media and scholars from various countries to believe that Okinawa may have become a new battlefield for China's "cognitive warfare"! So today we will talk about what the "Okinawa Awareness War" is all about? What is "The status of Ryukyu is still undecided"? What are the possible purposes behind “cognitive warfare”? But before we start today’s discussion, let’s go into some business service time! [What is the "Undecided Status of Ryukyu"? 】 Some Chinese people say that "Ryukyu should "return" to China. This statement may sound a bit confusing at first , but in fact, this view has existed for a long time! In 2013, scholars "Zhang Haipeng" and "Li Guoqiang" of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences published an article in the official media "People's Daily" mentioning that "Ryukyu" has always been a vassal state of China but was used by Japan in 1879. The "Ryukyu Disposal" forced annexation. Only the Qing Dynasty at that time did not have the power to resist this kind of aggression, which allowed Japan to monopolize Ryukyu. So far, these statements are basically not too controversial , but the following content makes the Japanese government so angry that the article is at the end. Mentioning that after Japan's defeat, in accordance with the provisions of the "Cairo Declaration" and "Potsdam Proclamation", not only Taiwan must return to China , but also the "outstanding" Ryukyu issue can be "re-discussed" . In other words, the author believes that Japan now has a negative attitude toward Okinawa. Sovereignty is questionable! This is also the main concept of "Ryukyu's status is undecided." After this article was published, it set off a wave of discussions about "Ryukyu" in China. Many Chinese netizens questioned that Okinawa should not belong to Japan! As for the Japanese government, it strongly protested the article's statement . However, since the two authors did not have official status, the matter later fell into disrepute. Ten years later, in 2023, as we mentioned earlier, it was suspected that "artificial Under "Operation", "Ryukyu" has twice become a hot topic on Chinese social platforms. Not only did netizens discuss it enthusiastically, Xi Jinping also mentioned the ancient name of Okinawa for the first time as a "national leader" during a visit in June. Ryukyu" instead of the Japanese name "Okinawa" has attracted great attention from media from various countries. Some media believe that Xi Jinping's remarks just echo the "undecided status of Ryukyu" and show that China wants to play the "Okinawa card" to achieve certain political goals. So next Let’s take a look at what content has appeared on China’s online platforms amid this year’s wave of suspicions about “cognitive warfare” ? [What are the discussions on "Okinawa Cognition War"? 】 According to the information captured by the reporter on various social platforms , there are two more important statements in this wave of "cognition war". The first statement is that "Ryukyu does not belong to Japan." This part of the statement basically refers to "Ryukyu's status." The content of "Undecided" emphasizes through some historical stories that Ryukyu has been "part of China" since ancient times but was forcibly occupied by Japan. Now Ryukyu people are determined to promote "Ryukyu independence" because they can't bear the problem of US military bases . Some of the videos even include The image of a Japanese high school choir singing "Ode to the Motherland" was stolen to create the impression that Ryukyu people "have a heart for China", thus echoing the statement that "Ryukyu should return to China". Another important statement is to criticize "Okinawa " The saying "If something goes wrong in Taiwan means something goes wrong in Japan" comes from the former Japanese Prime Minister "Shinzo Abe" . It probably means that if a war breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, it will also pose a serious threat to Japan and even implicate the US-Japan alliance. This is to call on the Chinese authorities not to "misjudge the situation" and undermine regional stability. Although Abe only shouted this sentence after leaving office , he was still strongly protested by the Chinese government at the time, believing that Abe's speech was "supporting Taiwan independence forces." This In the wave of awareness wars, many videos appeared on Douyin, constantly promoting Okinawa Governor "Danny Tamaki"' s opposition to the statement that "there is something going on in Taiwan." The content of the video is that Governor Tamaki said in an interview with China's "Global Times" that Okinawa is not Support "If something goes wrong in Taiwan, something goes wrong in Japan" because this is likely to lead to Okinawa being involved in the war. Under this propaganda, some Taiwanese media also followed up and reported that "the governor of Okinawa is opposed to something going on in Taiwan" and even labeled Tamaki as "pro- Even Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifically responded to the "local county magistrate's statement" and "does not represent the official position of the Japanese government." However, the video said this, is there actually any problem with the content ? [Test: Is Ryukyu’s status really undecided? 】 Some scholars have different views on the "undecided status of Ryukyu". International politics scholar Li Mingjun pointed out in a paper "Looking at Ryukyu Sovereignty from International Law" that although Ryukyu was once a vassal state of China , the Qing Dynasty after the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" Therefore , the legal "suzerain relationship" between Ryukyu and the Qing Dynasty has long been eliminated . Moreover, when Japan annexed Ryukyu in 1879, international law at the time actually recognized that countries could use "conquest". After acquiring the territory , Li Mingjun believed that judging from the context before World War II, there should be no dispute that the sovereignty of Ryukyu belongs to Japan . Judging from the post-war situation , the People's Republic of China has not claimed sovereignty over Ryukyu . In fact, Mao Zedong even once expressed solidarity with Japan. The "anti-American struggle" supports the separation of Okinawa from the control of the US military and its "return" to the Japanese government . Therefore, based on the above information, many scholars believe that the current argument that "Okinawa should return to China" is an untenable argument. On the other hand, from the perspective of public opinion It seems that Okinawa people have no idea of "returning to China". According to a poll conducted by "Asahi Shimbun" and "Okinawa Times" on the 50th anniversary of Okinawa's return to the motherland, only 3% of Okinawa residents hope to be independent from Japan, and 85% of residents hope to be independent from Japan. Express affirmation of the status quo of Okinawa's return to Japan In other words, the opinions supporting the independence of Okinawa belong to a very small minority , let alone "returning to China". "Masaki Kabe", an honorary professor at the University of the Ryukyus, also told the "Reporter" that China's "undecided status of Ryukyus" has not been established in Okinawa society. There is no basis for consensus because the Chinese government is unilaterally inciting! [Test: The governor of Okinawa objects to "something is going on in Taiwan"? 】 Next, let’s take a look at whether the governor of Okinawa’s objection to the statement that “something is happening in Taiwan” is correct? In fact, in the interview with Danny Tamaki published by the Global Times, Tamaki did not mention the words "something is happening in Taiwan" at all. He only said that the current situation of U.S. military bases concentrated in Okinawa would make Okinawa an easy target for attack. According to the written reply obtained by the "Reporter" from Danny Tamaki, Governor Tamaki also stated that he did not object to "what happens to Taiwan is what happens to Japan" but emphasized that neighboring countries, including China, should work hard to prevent war from happening in the Taiwan Strait. Judging from these data, there is a big gap between Governor Tamaki’s position and the content circulated in the short video . In addition, judging from the recent news, it is difficult to say that Danny Tamaki is a "pro-China faction." In November this year, Tamaki came to Although he did not meet any Taiwanese politicians during his trip to Taiwan to discuss cultural and commercial exchange activities, it still attracted protests from China. The Chinese Embassy in Japan stated that it "called on Japan to avoid supporting Taiwan independence forces." "Sending the wrong signal." On Douyin, many short videos appeared angrily criticizing Governor Tamaki, criticizing him for "visiting Taiwan" just after his visit to China. This is a double-dealing and will only be thankless. In this way, it seems that not only the Okinawan people are not satisfied The governor of Okinawa , who is "heart-loving for China," did not object to the statement that "if something goes wrong in Taiwan, something goes wrong in Japan." If these waves of awareness wars are really being manipulated by Chinese officials , then why are they spreading such false news? [Why is China engaging in the “Okinawa Perception War”? 】 Since most of the content spread in this wave of "Okinawa Awareness War" is in Chinese , it seems that it has not actually had any impact on the Japanese online community. That's the interesting part! Since these films are innocuous to the Japanese people, what is the point of such a "cognitive war" ? Regarding this point, cyber threat analyst "Huang Li'an" said that when we observe China's information operations, we should pay more attention to what content China deliberately lets us see than the impact of these operations. Political scientists who have long paid attention to Okinawa " "Lin Quanzhong" pointed out that it is currently difficult to imagine that China will question Japan's sovereignty over Okinawa from an official position. Unless Japan is highly involved in the "Taiwan issue" in the future , that will be another matter. Judging from these two arguments , some people believe that China's series of The operation is to convey to the world that he still has an "Okinawa card" to play, and at the same time, he also warns Japan not to interfere in the disputes in the Taiwan Strait! Although the awareness war does not seem to have a great impact on Japan , according to Huang Li'an, the intensity of China's operations against Japan has also shown an increasing trend . It is worth mentioning that there are already many differences in Japanese politics on the Okinawa issue , especially The discussion of "should the U.S. military withdraw from Okinawa" often causes controversy among many Japanese right-wingers. Those who support the U.S. military remaining in Okinawa will also attack politicians who oppose the U.S. military base as "pro-China." Therefore, if China really wants to launch an information war, it only needs to be revealed. Using some false information to create the impression that Okinawa is "moving closer to China" can easily sow the sensitivities between Japan and Okinawa , and even damage the relationship between Taiwan and Okinawa . In other words, even if the cognitive warfare method is crude, in Taiwan Under the subtle political interactions between Japan, Okinawa, and Japan, this "disturbance plan" is very likely to work! [Our point of view] "Wu Ruiren", a well-known Taiwanese political scholar, once described Taiwan and Okinawa as "'weak nations' caught between empires." He believes that the histories of Taiwan and Okinawa are very similar. Both places are in the middle of the war between China and Japan. However, even if we are so similar, judging from the recent disputes, Taiwan and Okinawa seem to be strangers to each other. Perhaps under such circumstances , we should be careful. Maybe the area of the "Okinawa Awareness War" is not actually Okinawa but Taiwan and Japan, which don't know the actual situation in Okinawa ! This is because if cognitive warfare is to be successful, we think it needs to be based on the "information gap" caused by everyone's lack of understanding of one thing , as well as people's fear and prejudice of the unknown. Take the example of Taiwan to see that many people I’m not sure what Okinawa’s society thinks. On the one hand, they also have a strong fear of China’s expansion ambitions. When the two are combined, they are more susceptible to the influence of cognitive warfare . They think Okinawa wants to break away from Japan or label them “pro-China and anti-Taiwan.” " But there are actually many different voices in Okinawa. It is true that a few people support independence , but there are also many people who want to maintain the status quo. It is true that some people express doubts about "Taiwan's troubles are Japan's troubles." But there are also people who hold the opposite opinion. If we start from the beginning, we will Having a fuller understanding of the various positions of the Okinawan people can not only reduce the information gap, but also eliminate fear. We will not be led by false information. Facing the threat from China, the fate of Taiwan and Okinawa is closely related. We are both "weak nations". If we could understand each other better, we might be able to find a way out of the geopolitical framework together! That’s it for today. If you want to know more about Okinawa issues, we have done videos on Okinawa’s historical controversies before. You can click over to have a look. You can also click on the extended reading report to learn more about this awareness war. content! So today I would like to ask everyone, do you think Taiwanese people will be affected by these waves of "Okinawa awareness war"? Finally, if you like today’s video, please share it to let more people know about the “Okinawa Awareness War”! In addition, you can also click here to see the introduction of "Okinawa Return" and "Japan-Korea Conflict" . So, today's Zhiqi Qiqi comes to an end here . See you tomorrow night!
