Anti-Japan protests reignite across China on occupation anniversary

China reacted swiftly to the news of the
landing, which risked inflaming a crisis that already ranks as China's
worst outbreak of anti-Japan sentiment in decades. Beijing described the
landing as provocative, lodged a complaint with Tokyo and said it
reserved the right to "take further action".
The
dispute over the uninhabited group of islands in the East China Sea -
known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China - led to another day
of protests that were smothered by a heavy blanket of security.
Japanese
businesses shut hundreds of stores and factories across China and
Japan's embassy in Beijing again came under siege by protesters hurling
water bottles, waving Chinese flags, and chanting anti-Japan slogans
evoking war-time enmity.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda urged Beijing again to protect Japanese citizens in China.
"Today is our day of shame," said a Beijing protester, Wei Libing, a waiter in his 40s. "Japan invaded China on this date."
"Wipe
out all Japanese dogs," read one banner held aloft by one of thousands
of protesters marching on the embassy, which was ringed by riot police
standing six rows deep. Japan's foreign ministry said some embassy
windows had been smashed.
Sino-Japanese
ties have long been plagued by China's bitter memories of Japan's
military aggression in the 1930s and 1940s and present rivalry over
resources - the islands are believed to be surrounded by energy-rich
waters.
For China, Tuesday marks the day Japan began its occupation of parts of mainland China in 1931.
Rowdy
protests sprang up in other major cities including Shanghai, raising
the risk they could get out of hand and backfire on Beijing, which has
given tacit approval to them through state media. One Hong Kong
newspaper said some protesters in southern Shenzhen had been detained
for calling for democracy and human rights.
JAPANESE FIRMS HUNKER DOWN
U.S.
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, visiting China to promote stronger
Sino-U.S. military ties, again called for calm and restraint. Washington
has said it will not take sides.
China
said it wanted a peaceful outcome. "We still hope for a peaceful and
negotiated solution to this issue and we hope to work together and work
well with the Japanese government," Defence Minister Liang Guanglie said
after meeting Panetta.
Japan's
coast guard said three Chinese marine surveillance ships briefly entered
what Japan considers its territorial waters near the disputed islets on
Tuesday evening, the second time since Friday when six ships briefly
entered the waters.
Well-known
Japanese firms have been targeted by protesters, with car makers Toyota
Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co halting some operations after attacks on
their outlets.
Other Japanese
companies -- from Mazda and Mitsubishi Motors to Panasonic and Fast
Retailing -- also shut plants and stores in China, sending Japanese
share prices falling and prompting a warning from credit rating agency
Fitch that the situation could hurt some auto and tech firms'
creditworthiness.
Japan's top
general retailer, Seven & I Holdings said it will resume business at
all its 13 Ito Yokado supermarkets and 198 "7-11" convenience stores in
the cities of Beijing and Chengdu on Wednesday.
Some firms recalled workers back to Japan due to the unrest.
"The
situation on the ground in China is not so good and I was advised by
the locals not to go out. I couldn't get any work done," Japanese
expatriate worker Hisato Takase said on arrival at Tokyo's Haneda
airport.
Japanese restaurants, a common target of protesters, barred their doors while many Japanese expatriates stayed home.
Tuesday's
brief landing by two Japanese nationals on one of the disputed islands,
reported by Japan's coast guard, has raised fears of a direct clash in
an area being patrolled by ships from both nations.
"The
unlawful landing of the Japanese right-wingers on the Chinese territory
of the Diaoyu islands was a gravely provocative action violating
Chinese territorial sovereignty," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hong Lei said in a statement.
The
activists briefly landed on one of the islands, having paddled up to it
in a rubber raft and swam ashore before returning to the boat, Japanese
broadcaster NHK said.
A flotilla of around 1,000 Chinese fishing boats is also reported by Chinese and Japanese media to be heading to the area.
In 2010, a bilateral crisis over the islands erupted after a fishing boat collided with a Japanese coast guard vessel.
The
long-standing territorial dispute bubbled over again last week when the
Japanese government decided to nationalise some of the islands, buying
them from a private Japanese owner.
Political
analysts say China also upped the stakes last week when it announced
precise boundaries for waters it claims around the islands, a move sure
to raise pressure on Beijing to act when it accuses Japanese vessels of
violating those boundaries.
The
dispute has sent China-exposed Japanese stocks down heavily on the Tokyo
stock market, raising concerns about any wider impact on economic and
trade ties between the two countries. Platinum prices also fell, partly
on the disruption to Japanese car plants in China, traders said. The
precious metal is used as an auto catalyst.
China, the world's second-largest economy, and Japan, the third-largest, have total two-way trade of around $345 billion.
There
is no talk of Japanese firms withdrawing investment from China but some
experts believe anti-Japan sentiment could prompt firms to rethink
China investments in the longer term.
(Additional
reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Tim Kelly, Linda Sieg and Hern Shinn
Cheng in TOKYO, Kazunori Takada, John Ruwitch and Carlos Barria in
SHANGHAI, James Pomfret in GUANGZHOU, and Michael Martina, Sui-Lee Wee,
Max Duncan and Chris Buckley in BEIJING; Writing by Mark Bendeich;

الموضوع الأصلي : Anti-Japan protests reignite across China on occupation anniversary

المصدر : ملتقى الجزائريين والعرب