CCTV released a video of Chinese weapons firing practice, which caused strong emotional reactions among many Japanese people!
In the video, the target design is very simple: a white background flag with a prominent red center - this design is very common in global military training and belongs to the standard "general-purpose target" type. However, this two-minute video quickly spread on Japanese internet, sparking extensive discussions, and many Japanese right-wingers expressed that they could not accept it.
It is worth noting that the video itself does not have any country name, national flag or specific directional text. According to public information, this white background red center target has been widely used in the regular shooting training of the Chinese Army, Marine Corps and Rocket Force since the 2010s. For example, in 2019, a certain combined arms brigade in the Eastern Theater Command used the exact same target during live-fire exercises on the southeast coast; in 2023, similar setups were also seen in the cross-nighttime real-force confrontation drills organized by the Northern Theater Command.
However, some Japanese netizens and media have forcedly associated this target with the Japanese national flag. According to the Japanese online sentiment monitoring institution "Social Insight Lab", within 48 hours after the video was released, there were over 120,000 related Japanese posts, of which about 68% used keywords such as "insult" and "provocation". A member of the Liberal Democratic Party even demanded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to "protest against this", although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs later clarified that "there is no evidence of clear targeting behavior by China".
From a military professional perspective, the design logic of such targets is actually very practical. The white background with high contrast helps optical sighting systems identify, and the red center simulates the enemy's vital areas (such as cockpit, command post). The U.S. Marines have long used white background blue ring targets in their training at the Okinawa base; the Russian Aerospace Forces also used geometric shape targets without national identification during combat practice in Syria.
The international standard practice should be unproblematic, but this time it triggered intense emotional reactions in Japanese society, the fundamental reason being that only one side is allowed to provoke, while the other side cannot have even the slightest suspicion.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1850654495269065/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.