Protesters rally at Chinese Embassy in Tokyo over disputed islands+

TOKYO, Oct. 16 Kyodo -
Demonstrators rallied in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo Saturday
afternoon apparently to protest the Chinese government's handling of
developments following the collisions of a Chinese trawler and Japanese patrol
boats in September.
With many police officers positioned around the diplomatic mission, tension ran
high at one point but no major disturbances were observed.
Before arriving at the embassy, more than 2,000 demonstrators gathered at a
park nearby and marched through the Roppongi district chanting, ''The Senkakus
are Japanese territory,'' and, ''The Democratic Party of Japan government,
release the video footage of the incident to the public.''
The rally was organized by an organization led by Toshio Tamogami, a former Air
Self-Defense Force chief known for his hawkish political views, and other
entities. Tamogami was removed as ASDF chief of staff in 2008 after publishing
an essay in which he denied Japan's militarist past.
In Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, a rally was also held to protest intrusions and
illegal fishing by foreign nationals in Japanese waters.
Local governments and fishermen pleaded that they want to fish in a safe
environment.
The collisions took place near the Senkaku Islands administered by Japan as
part of Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture. The islands are also claimed by
China. The Japan Coast Guard taped the incident on Sept. 7 that led to the
arrest of the skipper of the Chinese boat.
China subsequently stopped high-level dialogues with Japan and took other steps
to stall bilateral exchanges. The skipper was released a few weeks later.
==Kyodo