Chinese hospitality

In the grand tradition of the Chinese restaurateur who barred Japanese customers from dining at his establishment unless they first apologized for Japan's actions during WWII, comes this Kyodo News story (found via C. Buddha):

A hospital in southern China has hung a sign outside its entrance forbidding Japanese people from entering unless they apologize for the Japanese army's World War II-era use of "comfort women," two of whom were treated there, a local paper reported Thursday.

The Hainan Eastern-Western Medicine United Hospital, located in the central district of Haikou, capital of the island province of Hainan, posted the sign in Chinese and Japanese on Wednesday afternoon, according to the South Country Metropolitan News.

The sign reads: "Japanese people first apologize, then enter. Japanese people who 'decide not to admit to their crimes' are prohibited from entering."

The sign drew a crowd of local people Wednesday, the paper said. The article did not say how often Japanese people visit the hospital.

Fortunately, after only one day of their little stunt, hospital managers decided to stop acting like a bunch of three-year-olds:

A hospital in southern China that hung up a sign last week forbidding Japanese people from entering unless they apologized for the Japanese military's wartime use of "comfort women" took the notice down after only one day, a hospital staff member said Monday.

The Hainan Eastern-Western Medicine United Hospital, located in the central district of Haikou, capital of the island province of Hainan, removed the notice from above its main gate on Thursday. The employee did not say how many Japanese people tried to enter the hospital on Wednesday and Thursday last week. She said the number of Japanese patients is "not a lot but not a few."

Whatever the differences between China and Japan may be, penalizing ordinary citizens today for the actions of their nation's former government over 60 years ago is simply ridiculous. I hope no Japanese patients were harmed as a result of this petty, childish bit of grandstanding.