Don't blame Doraemon for worsening ties

Should Doraemon, a modern cultural icon of Japan, be a scapegoat for the worsening Sino-Japanese ties? For some people, it seems, the answer is yes.

Over the weekend, three newspapers based in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, sparked a fierce debate by launching an attack on the ongoing frenzy about the chubby, blue, earless robotic cat in the southwestern metropolis. However, it would be more thought-provoking to consider ways to rationally treat civilian exchanges, which have chilled since Japan's so-called nationalization of China's Diaoyu Islands in 2012.

According to local media commentaries, the Doraemon-themed exhibition ill-intentionally kicked off on Aug 16, one day after the 69th anniversary to mark Japan's surrender during World War II, and the exhibition bore its political task to export Japan's national values, and tried to bring young Chinese under the banner of Japanese cartoon culture.