When nationalism overheats, even innocence becomes collateral.
This week in China, a Shiba Inu — a dog with no nationality, no ideology — was reportedly beaten to death by security personnel after being labelled a ‘Japanese breed.’
The anger wasn’t about a dog.
It was about a rising wave of anti-Japanese sentiment fuelled by online outrage, historical wounds and performative patriotism — the kind that demands enemies even when none are present.
And in moments like this, you see the truth: extremism doesn’t protect a society. It consumes it from within.
When a nation begins to fear a dog because of where it comes from, what does that say about where the country is going?