Japan said yesterday it had lodged a protest with Beijing after spotting two Chinese fisheries patrol boats near a disputed island chain at the center of a bitter row between the Asian giants.
“Last night around 9pm our coastguard sighted them and afterwards the two [Chinese ships] left there and sailed north toward China,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku told a regular press conference.
“After the incident, we launched a protest through diplomatic channels,” he said.
Beijing and Tokyo have been locked in their worst spat in years that started after Japan arrested a Chinese trawler captain on Sept. 8 near the islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyutais (釣魚台) in Taiwan and China.
In Japan, the Chinese embassy has received an envelope with a bullet and an anonymous note that warned: “Don’t come near the Senkaku islands” — the second time such a threat was sent — Jiji Press reported, citing police sources.
Sengoku reiterated Tokyo’s position in the row over the islands, which are located in rich fishing grounds and near suspected gas deposits, in waters between Okinawa and Taiwan.
“There is no doubt at all that the Senkaku Islands are an integral part of Japanese territory historically and under international law,” he said. “We are going to continue taking the necessary precautions and [conducting] surveillance.”
Asked about the wording of the protest, Sengoku said Japan told China that it disapproved of its ships sailing near the islands, saying: “What’s the purpose? Such activities are no good, are they? We have told them this.”
Meanwhile, more anti-Japan demonstrations were held in at least a half dozen Chinese cities over the weekend, reports said yesterday. Calls for more protests today also circulated widely on the Internet, including a planned march to the Japanese consulate in Chongqing.
The People’s Daily issued an editorial calling the protests “understandable,” but urging demonstrators to plunge into their work and studies rather than take to the streets. The government has encouraged nationalist outrage over Japan’s seizure of the captain in disputed waters, but it also is wary of public protests.
Protesters gathered on Sunday in Changsha, Baoji and Lanzhou, among other smaller cities. Japanese TV footage showed uniformed and plainclothes Chinese police watching closely, and in some cases, ripping down banners and escorting people away from the demonstrations. Several hundred protesters joined in, although there were no immediate reports of arrests or property damage.
Marchers carrying Chinese national flags chanted “love China” and “boycott Japanese goods.”
Other signs, however, also touched on sensitive domestic issues, ranging from freedom of speech to high housing prices. One particularly bold sign displayed in Baoji called for multiparty democracy.
In its editorial posted to popular Web sites, the People’s Daily empathized with protesters, but warned against actions that violate laws and regulations.
“Expressing one’s patriotic passions is understandable,” the paper said. “We believe that the vast majority will turn their patriotic passions into concrete actions in their daily life, and safeguard the bigger picture of reform, development and stability.”
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