Protests against Japan broke out in more than a dozen Chinese cities, including Beijing, yesterday, as authorities allowed thousands of people to vent their anger over an escalating territorial row.
The demonstrations — which saw Japanese businesses, restaurants and cars targeted in some cities — erupted after Japanese nationalists landed on an island claimed by both countries.
The latest anti-Japan protests are believed to be the most widespread in China since 2005, when several cities saw demonstrations over a slew of grievances, including Japan’s wartime atrocities.
Photo: Reuters
In Shenzhen, protesters waved Chinese flags and shouted slogans as they marched on major streets, with the numbers swelling to about 1,000, Xinhua news agency said. Protesters overturned a police car that was made in Japan and damaged a Japanese restaurant, it said.
Zhang Pei, one of the participants, said protesters were marching toward the train station on the border with Hong Kong.
“The demonstration is strung out for 7 to 8km. Many police are escorting us along the street,” he said by telephone.
Protests are usually swiftly put down in China, but one analyst said the government had an interest in allowing them to go ahead, for a time.
“They’re using the popular card to put pressure on Japan,” said Willy Lam (林和立), a China expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “The [Chinese Communist] Party leadership realizes nationalism is a double-edged sword. If they see a possibility of the protests escalating, they will give the signals to put an end to this.”
More than 100 people gathered near a complex housing the Japanese consulate in Guangzhou, chanting: “Japan get out of the Diaoyu Islands,” Xinhua reported.
China — which yesterday lodged a “strong protest” with Tokyo — calls the archipelago the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), but it is controlled by Japan, which calls it the Senkaku Islands.
Witnesses said demonstrations also took place in Shanghai and Chengdu, where protests shut down a Japanese department store and a branch of the Japanese clothing store Uniqlo.
Anti-Japan protests also occurred in Qingdao, on the east coast, as well as in Shenyang and Harbin.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in