ID :
142619
Sun, 09/19/2010 - 09:01
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/142619
The shortlink copeid
Chinese, HK citizens stage protests over isle dispute with Japan+
BEIJING/HONG KONG, Sept. 18 Kyodo - Chinese activists and concerned citizens staged protests Saturday in Beijing, Shanghai and other mainland cities over Japan's control of the disputed Senkaku
Islands in the East China Sea.
A similar demonstration was also held in Hong Kong to demand that Japan release
the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that collided with two Japanese patrol
boats on Sept. 7 off the islands, administered by Japan but claimed by China
and Taiwan.
Holding placards that say, ''Wake up the Chinese people,'' ''Never forget
9.18,'' and ''Get the Japanese out of the Diaoyu Islands,'' several dozen
protesters in Beijing sang the Chinese national anthem and some trod on cloth
painted with the Japanese flag in front of the Japanese Embassy.
''Overthrow small Japan,'' some protesters shouted in unison, using a
derogatory term for the country. ''Japanese, get out (of the islands),'' was
among the other slogans chanted by the protesters.
Saturday marked the 79th anniversary of the Japanese bombing of a railroad
track near Shenyang, the start of the Manchurian Incident that led to Japan's
invasion of northeastern China.
There were no injuries and no property was damaged in the demonstration, which
began around 9:18 a.m. and lasted for about half an hour, before Chinese police
ushered the protesters away from the street facing the embassy.
A second demonstration took place in front of the embassy for 15 minutes from
12:45 p.m., and a third one occurred around 2:30 p.m. for 30 minutes, but
neither of them involved violence either.
The events were much smaller than the 2005 anti-Japan protests that turned
violent in some Chinese cities. Police had been on high alert around the
embassy and the Japanese consulate in Shanghai over potential violence.
''We believe the Chinese people will express themselves in a rational manner,''
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement issued
Saturday.
In Hong Kong, Albert Ho, chairman of the territory's Democratic Party, urged
his ''compatriots not to forget the past Japanese invasion and atrocities
committed during World War II'' as about 300 people marched in protest to
Japan's control of the Senkaku Islands, known in China as Diaoyu and in Taiwan
as Tiaoyutai.
''We call upon our people to understand that this Diaoyu Islands issue is also
a symbol of unlawful Japanese occupation of our territory,'' Ho said.
The protesters burned a self-made Japanese military flag and read out a
petition letter to be sent to the Japanese consulate in Hong Kong after
reaching the office that was closed on weekends
A Chinese onlooker at the initial Beijing protest said she hopes the new
Japanese Cabinet launched Friday will make a ''wise political decision'' to
solve the latest row by releasing the Chinese ship captain, 41-year-old Zhan
Qixiong.
''I hope the two governments will find a good solution soon so as not to
escalate the situation,'' said the onlooker, who asked not to be named.
''It's a pity that this single issue is hurting bilateral relations that have
been improving in recent years,'' she said. ''There are a lot of important
areas in which the two countries can and must cooperate, such as the economy,
for our mutual benefit.''
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Jiang characterized Japan's
''illegal'' detention of the captain as the major obstacle in bilateral
relations, calling for his immediate release.
Japan has freed the 14 crew members and the Chinese trawler, but Zhan remains
detained as Japanese authorities suspect him of deliberately causing his vessel
to collide with one of the Japanese patrol boats.
Japan's new foreign minister, Seiji Maehara, said Friday that Tokyo will
continue to deal with the case in accordance with domestic law while seeking a
''calm'' response from China.
To protest Japan's handling of the case, China has taken a series of
countermeasures, including unilaterally suspending scheduled talks on a joint
gas field development in the East China Sea and postponing a planned visit to
Japan by a delegation of the National People's Congress.
Beijing claims that the islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times.
==Kyodo
Islands in the East China Sea.
A similar demonstration was also held in Hong Kong to demand that Japan release
the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that collided with two Japanese patrol
boats on Sept. 7 off the islands, administered by Japan but claimed by China
and Taiwan.
Holding placards that say, ''Wake up the Chinese people,'' ''Never forget
9.18,'' and ''Get the Japanese out of the Diaoyu Islands,'' several dozen
protesters in Beijing sang the Chinese national anthem and some trod on cloth
painted with the Japanese flag in front of the Japanese Embassy.
''Overthrow small Japan,'' some protesters shouted in unison, using a
derogatory term for the country. ''Japanese, get out (of the islands),'' was
among the other slogans chanted by the protesters.
Saturday marked the 79th anniversary of the Japanese bombing of a railroad
track near Shenyang, the start of the Manchurian Incident that led to Japan's
invasion of northeastern China.
There were no injuries and no property was damaged in the demonstration, which
began around 9:18 a.m. and lasted for about half an hour, before Chinese police
ushered the protesters away from the street facing the embassy.
A second demonstration took place in front of the embassy for 15 minutes from
12:45 p.m., and a third one occurred around 2:30 p.m. for 30 minutes, but
neither of them involved violence either.
The events were much smaller than the 2005 anti-Japan protests that turned
violent in some Chinese cities. Police had been on high alert around the
embassy and the Japanese consulate in Shanghai over potential violence.
''We believe the Chinese people will express themselves in a rational manner,''
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement issued
Saturday.
In Hong Kong, Albert Ho, chairman of the territory's Democratic Party, urged
his ''compatriots not to forget the past Japanese invasion and atrocities
committed during World War II'' as about 300 people marched in protest to
Japan's control of the Senkaku Islands, known in China as Diaoyu and in Taiwan
as Tiaoyutai.
''We call upon our people to understand that this Diaoyu Islands issue is also
a symbol of unlawful Japanese occupation of our territory,'' Ho said.
The protesters burned a self-made Japanese military flag and read out a
petition letter to be sent to the Japanese consulate in Hong Kong after
reaching the office that was closed on weekends
A Chinese onlooker at the initial Beijing protest said she hopes the new
Japanese Cabinet launched Friday will make a ''wise political decision'' to
solve the latest row by releasing the Chinese ship captain, 41-year-old Zhan
Qixiong.
''I hope the two governments will find a good solution soon so as not to
escalate the situation,'' said the onlooker, who asked not to be named.
''It's a pity that this single issue is hurting bilateral relations that have
been improving in recent years,'' she said. ''There are a lot of important
areas in which the two countries can and must cooperate, such as the economy,
for our mutual benefit.''
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Jiang characterized Japan's
''illegal'' detention of the captain as the major obstacle in bilateral
relations, calling for his immediate release.
Japan has freed the 14 crew members and the Chinese trawler, but Zhan remains
detained as Japanese authorities suspect him of deliberately causing his vessel
to collide with one of the Japanese patrol boats.
Japan's new foreign minister, Seiji Maehara, said Friday that Tokyo will
continue to deal with the case in accordance with domestic law while seeking a
''calm'' response from China.
To protest Japan's handling of the case, China has taken a series of
countermeasures, including unilaterally suspending scheduled talks on a joint
gas field development in the East China Sea and postponing a planned visit to
Japan by a delegation of the National People's Congress.
Beijing claims that the islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times.
==Kyodo
