What the mainland media say: September 30, 2012
Hanjian, the word for collaborator, is being flung about in the heated debate over the Diaoyus
The Chinese have a long history of labelling those who collaborate with enemy forces as a hanjian, or Chinese traitor. One of the most infamous hanjian in modern Chinese history was Wang Jingwei, a Kuomintang politician who served as the head of a puppet state when the nation was under Japanese occupation during the second world war.
Hanjian also became a loaded term crusaders used to discredit opponents or justify what they did to them.
Hanjian has re-emerged in the media when discussing the fallout from anti-Japan protests over the disputed Diaoyu Islands, or Senkakus as they are known in Japan.
A Beihang University professor, Han Deqiang, made headlines last week after he admitted to slapping an elderly man in the face twice for blaspheming Mao Zedong during an anti-Japan protest in Beijing on September 18. He thought the man was actually a hanjian or, in this case, a Japanese collaborator.
Han, a leading leftist scholar, said he stood by his action despite criticism in the media that he had failed to observe the code of conduct for a professor.