Security high in China after days of protest against Japan
Security high in China after days of protest against Japan
Security forces patrolled the streets of many parts of China Tuesday after three days of rowdy anti-Japanese protests.
The protests began Saturday and lasted through Monday. Most of the demonstrations took place in central China, which is home to many Japanese factories.
While reports on the size of the protests varied, Japanese news agency Kyodo placed the number at around 10,000.
Video captured by an American living in China showed protesters in the town of Chengdu in southwest China burning the Chinese characters that read "Nihon" or "Japan" in English.
In the city of Mianyang in northern China, protesters overturned a Japanese-made car, according to footage that aired on Japan's TV Asahi.
The station also aired video of vandalized Japanese stores. The letters on the sign of one Sony store had all but vanished -- with only the "N" left dangling from the wall.
Video also showed damage inside Japanese grocery chain Ito Yokado in Chengdu and extra staff holding watch outside.
People in various locations chanted anti-Japan slogans in the videos and called for a boycott of Japanese products. Chinese security forces protectively surrounded the Japanese embassy in Beijing.
The protests come as diplomatic relations between Japan and China show signs of improvement. Both sides resumed diplomatic talks in Vietnam that they had abandoned during a recent row over islands both countries have claimed for decades as their own.
Beijing says the Diaoyu Islands and most of the East China Sea belong to China, disputing neighboring countries' claims. In Japan, the islands are known as the Senkaku.
Tensions peaked after a Chinese fishing vessel collided with Japanese coast guard ships in September near the disputed islands.
Japan detained the ship's captain for weeks. The battle escalated into diplomatic threats by Beijing, the suspension of diplomatic talks and canceled trips between the nations.
Japan eventually released the captain and both governments have adopted a more conciliatory public tone.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan says the country has requested that China protect Japanese nationals and companies in China.
"We've asked China to prevent any further damage to Japanese shops and companies. It's important for both of our governments to deal with this situation calmly," he said.
The prime minister added that despite the reports of protests in China, the bilateral relationship between the two countries remains intact.
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Wow, it's like 2005 redux (that was the year of the protests over the Japanese textbooks that totally whitewashed over the bad things Japan had done but were only used in a whopping 1% of junior high schools in Japan). :/ This shouldn't be much of a surprise, given how the Chinese press has been reporting the whole mess with the Senkaku Islands--it's been pretty inflammatory (but, full disclosure, what I saw was what the Japanese press was reporting that the Chinese press was saying in editorials. The bits I saw on TV reports, the Japanese translation of the Chinese were pretty good, and it was all pretty virulently anti-Japan.)
Security forces patrolled the streets of many parts of China Tuesday after three days of rowdy anti-Japanese protests.
The protests began Saturday and lasted through Monday. Most of the demonstrations took place in central China, which is home to many Japanese factories.
While reports on the size of the protests varied, Japanese news agency Kyodo placed the number at around 10,000.
Video captured by an American living in China showed protesters in the town of Chengdu in southwest China burning the Chinese characters that read "Nihon" or "Japan" in English.
In the city of Mianyang in northern China, protesters overturned a Japanese-made car, according to footage that aired on Japan's TV Asahi.
The station also aired video of vandalized Japanese stores. The letters on the sign of one Sony store had all but vanished -- with only the "N" left dangling from the wall.
Video also showed damage inside Japanese grocery chain Ito Yokado in Chengdu and extra staff holding watch outside.
People in various locations chanted anti-Japan slogans in the videos and called for a boycott of Japanese products. Chinese security forces protectively surrounded the Japanese embassy in Beijing.
The protests come as diplomatic relations between Japan and China show signs of improvement. Both sides resumed diplomatic talks in Vietnam that they had abandoned during a recent row over islands both countries have claimed for decades as their own.
Beijing says the Diaoyu Islands and most of the East China Sea belong to China, disputing neighboring countries' claims. In Japan, the islands are known as the Senkaku.
Tensions peaked after a Chinese fishing vessel collided with Japanese coast guard ships in September near the disputed islands.
Japan detained the ship's captain for weeks. The battle escalated into diplomatic threats by Beijing, the suspension of diplomatic talks and canceled trips between the nations.
Japan eventually released the captain and both governments have adopted a more conciliatory public tone.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan says the country has requested that China protect Japanese nationals and companies in China.
"We've asked China to prevent any further damage to Japanese shops and companies. It's important for both of our governments to deal with this situation calmly," he said.
The prime minister added that despite the reports of protests in China, the bilateral relationship between the two countries remains intact.
--
Wow, it's like 2005 redux (that was the year of the protests over the Japanese textbooks that totally whitewashed over the bad things Japan had done but were only used in a whopping 1% of junior high schools in Japan). :/ This shouldn't be much of a surprise, given how the Chinese press has been reporting the whole mess with the Senkaku Islands--it's been pretty inflammatory (but, full disclosure, what I saw was what the Japanese press was reporting that the Chinese press was saying in editorials. The bits I saw on TV reports, the Japanese translation of the Chinese were pretty good, and it was all pretty virulently anti-Japan.)