Chinese netizens Wednesday demanded that the Japanese Embassy in Beijing apologize over two posts on Sina Weibo that celebrated a traditional Japanese festival on Tuesday, July 7th, a day marking the start of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).
"There are many places in Japan celebrating the seventh evening of July and holding many activities such as a wish written on a letter or hung on bamboo poles to realize their dreams," read one Weibo post and the other one said "it is the best season for drinking beer in Sapporo."
Many netizens became angry on the two posts, saying that the embassy is "defiant" for ignoring the historical day which was commemorated throughout China and such posts "could harm two nations' relations." The first of the two posts has been forwarded over 5,000 times. The embassy, in response, said that it indeed received many comments and some of them pointed out Japan didn't make an apology again on July 7.
"I have read every comment earnestly," read a statement published in the name of Yasushi Yamamoto, Japanese envoy of the embassy, on the embassy's Weibo page Wednesday. The response was made in the form of "Yamamoto Q&A," a way the embassy communicates with Chinese netizens on the Twitter-like Weibo.
The statement went on to say that "we [a family of three] don't experience of war and have different background. But we will turn to history as a guide and hope an eternal peace between China and Japan." The post has been reposted over 2,000 times as of press time. But most Chinese netizens don't take this response as an apology, saying it's "slippery."
