Japan, seeking to minimize damage to ties with Beijing, will send seven Chinese activists arrested after landing on a small disputed island back to China after questioning them, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday.
The seven, all men, evaded Japanese Coast Guard vessels to land on the rocky island in the East China Sea on Wednesday, prompting Japan to protest to China through its ambassador in Tokyo and to send 18 police by helicopter to remove them.
In Beijing, about two dozen protesters burned Japanese flags outside Tokyo's embassy in a protest against the arrests.
PHOTO: AP
"The Chinese people cannot be insulted," they chanted.
China, Taiwan and Japan all claim sovereignty over the uninhabited island cluster, which provides access to rich fishing grounds and possible oil deposits in the area.
Beijing calls the islands the Diaoyus and Japan refers to them as the Senkakus.
Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said the seven would be questioned by police on the southern island of Okinawa before being sent back to China.
"We do not want to play up this incident as an obstacle to the promotion of better relations between China and Japan," Takashima said of the latest row over the islands, which lie between Okinawa and Taiwan.
China has demanded that Japan ensure the safety of the group and has reiterated its claim to the islands.
The seven Chinese were brought to Naha, the capital of Okinawa, early yesterday for questioning by police.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda expressed hope that the incident would not affect relations between Tokyo and Beijing.
"I hope that this issue will not adversely affect the entire Sino-Japanese relations," Fukuda told reporters.
"But it is crystal clear that the Senkaku islands are our country's indigenous territory."
Ties between the two Asian neighbors have already been strained by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, where convicted war criminals are among those honored.
Fukuda said Japan would handle the issue "solemnly" based on domestic and international laws.
"We are investigating whether there is any political intention [behind their landing on the island]," he said.
The Japanese government is trying to dissuade a right-wing Japanese group from making a trip to the island, Takashima said.
"We are aware of it [the planned trip] but we are telling them not to do it," he said.
Japan has formally claimed sovereignty over the islands since 1895 and says Beijing did not stake its claim until the 1970s, when talk emerged of oil resources in the area.
China and Taiwan say their claims go back to ancient times.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, who is due to visit China on April 3 to discuss a range of issues, may raise the islands spat during her talks in Beijing.
"The Senkakus is one of the main bilateral issues between the two countries so she might raise the issue to seek China's cooperation to prevent this kind of thing," Takashima said.
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
RSS