EastSouthWestNorth covers some in-game political controversy going on massively popular online Chinese RPG "The Fantasy of the Journey West." Apparently a high-level player was placed in a virtual lockdown (in "The Great Tang Permanent Incarceration Prison") by the game's company Netease because of the name he gave his character and guild. The player's character was called "Kill the Little Japs", and his guild "The Alliance to Resist Japan."
From EastSouthWestNorth:
Has Netease ever done something like this before? Yes, there is an online post from a Netease manager (at xyq.netease.com) about some historical precedents:A guild known as "Triad Society" was dissolved. The manager does not remember the alias of the leader.
A guild known as "Al Qaeda" was dissolved. The leader had the alias of "I am bin Laden."
A guild known as "Unit 731" was dissolved. The leader had the alias of "Kill all, loot all." [Note: Wikipedia entry on Unit 731]
EastSouthWestNorth also points to an earlier story: "The Alliance to Resist Japan" apparently fomented in-game protests over what it perceived to be the graphic of the Japanese Empire's Rising Sun flag on the walls of a government building. Over 10,000 players gathered their characters in an area known as The Summer Palace in collective fury.
"To raise a 'Rising Sun flag' in a Great Tang government office is obviously a challenge and an insult!" said local game player Mr. Zeng angrily. Another game player Ms. Lu could not conceal her disappointment: "Even although everything in the game is virtual, our feelings are still genuine. This incident has seriously hurt our feelings. We find this unacceptable." According to game player Mr. Gu, many game players contacted the customer service line after the incident broke upon, but the other side only repeated: "No comment." Mr. Guo said that the word among the game players is that the "Rising Sun flag" is present in a Tang dynasty government office because some of the stock shares in this online game have been purchased by a foreign company.
Netease, however, claims the offending image was based not on the Japanese flag, but a Chinese painting called "Green Mountain Ocean Water Morning Sunrise," found historically in government offices, which was meant to remind officials to "always maintain a clear mind, never mistreat the people, never betray the nation."
Says Andrew Leonard at Salon on the whole matter: "Ponder how there is no escape from the crimes of history, no matter how immersive the virtual medium."
Japanese war atrocities in China during WWII have left a lasting impression, and in recent times have served as a rallying point for Chinese nationalism. In 2005, for example, China saw a wave of real-world anti-Japanese demonstrations in response to news that Japanese textbooks were whitewashing Japan's military history.
This isn't the first meeting of Chinese games and anti-Japanese patriotism. The China Communist Youth League developed a WWII-themed game called Anti-Japan War Online, which, according to a spokesperson, "will allow players, especially younger players, to learn from history. They will get a patriotic feeling when fighting invaders to safeguard their motherland."
(thanks to Jem Cohen for the Salon tip-off)
elsewhere: coverage from TerraNova. Their source Billsdue notes that
Anti-Japanese sentiment is never far from erupting here. And it may be good for business. According to this article on 17173.com, a server group that normally sees 20,000 concurrent users was almost overwhelmed with 80,000 users during the protest.
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