"If You Wipe Your Feet on the Japanese Flag, You Get the Five-Star Red Flag" Controversy Over Anti-Japan Event Held in China

Next to the Rising Sun Flag, the phrase 'Please wipe your feet' is written

Chinese people stepping on the Japanese flag.
[Photo by Chengdu Daily capture, X capture]

In China, an event where participants step on the Japanese flag, the Hinomaru, and receive the Chinese flag, the Five-star Red Flag, has sparked controversy.

According to Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily and others on the 4th (local time), on the 30th of last month, a day before China's National Day, a "stepping on the Hinomaru" event was held at a square in Nanning City, Guangxi Autonomous Region.

Videos spreading on Chinese social networking services (SNS) show Chinese children and young people lining up in front of the Hinomaru placed on the ground, stepping on it when their turn comes. Next to the Hinomaru, there is a phrase that reads "Please wipe your feet." Some people even jumped while stepping on the Hinomaru. They step on the Hinomaru and then receive the Five-star Red Flag.

This is not the first time the Hinomaru has been desecrated in China. In September last year, shortly after Japan discharged contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, a Chinese soccer fan burned the Hinomaru during a match between Chinese and Japanese professional soccer teams.

Meanwhile, on the 18th of last month, an incident occurred in Shenzhen City, China, where a Japanese elementary school student was attacked by a Chinese assailant and died. Earlier, in June, at a Japanese school bus stop in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China, a Chinese man went on a stabbing rampage, injuring a Japanese mother and child. In response to Japan's request to crack down on anti-Japanese sentiment, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs rebutted, stating that so-called "anti-Japanese education" does not exist in China.