China warned the public against staging fresh protests when Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura visits this weekend in an attempt to head off a repeat of last week's violent anti-Japanese demonstrations.
Thousands took part in protests in at least four Chinese cities last Saturday and Sunday, and Internet chatrooms, e-mails and mobile phone messages have been urging people to join a new round of protests in cities across China this weekend.
Foreign missions, wary of possible violence after demonstrators threw rocks and eggs at Japanese diplomatic missions and attacked Japanese businesses last week cautioned their citizens about new protests.
PHOTO: AFP
The demonstrations, triggered by what many see as Japan's failure to own up to World War II atrocities, come at a time that Japan is seeking a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, a move that China firmly opposes.
While last weekend's protests appeared to have had tacit state approval, the government appealed to demonstrators to avoid "extreme activities" and yesterday Beijing police warned against "unapproved or harmful" activities.
"Any assemblies, protests and demonstrations should be approved by the public security organ," the China News Service quoted a Beijing police spokesman as saying.
Unapproved and harmful activities were "illegal" and would be punished, it said.
For its part, Japan pledged not to let a series of disputes with China hinder their broader relationship.
"We must deepen mutual understanding and trust through dialogue and not allow individual issues to become an obstacle to the development of the overall Japan-China relationship," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in an annual diplomatic report.
Machimura flies to Beijing tomorrow to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (
Tokyo, through the Japanese chamber of commerce in China, warned Japanese firms to be on guard against possible protests. Japanese diplomatic missions in China have also cautioned Japanese in China about the protests, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said.
"It seems the Chinese side is making various efforts. I would like to monitor the situation," Hosoda told reporters.
The Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, meanwhile, issued an annual report that accused China of threatening Japanese security in a series of incidents including illegal prospecting for oil in Japan's exclusive economic zone and an incursion into Japan's territorial waters.
The report cited China's undersea resource explorations in disputed waters in the East China Sea and an incursion by a Chinese nuclear submarine in those waters last year, calling them "serious problems that threatened Japan's national security, sovereignty and other rights."
However, despite such problems, it is important to build trust and understanding through dialogue, the report said.
"Stability in Japan-China relations is crucial for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region," the report said. "And we agreed on the need for dialogue despite difference in opinions in specific areas."
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from