Japan's foreign minister has appealed to China to steer clear of an uninhabited island chain claimed by both nations that has been the site of recent altercations between Japanese police and Chinese protesters.
Yoriko Kawaguchi, in meetings with China's premier and foreign minister, raised the dispute over the islands -- called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China -- as "the most important issue" of her visit, Japanese officials said.
Kawaguchi took issue with "the illegal landing of the Chinese activists on ... territory that is legally and historically Japanese," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said. Japan arrested and deported seven Chinese activists who landed on one of the islands last month.
"The Chinese said the islands are Chinese territory. The Japanese foreign minister made it clear she could not accept that notion," Takashima said Saturday night.
Of the Chinese protesters, he said, "There was no direct response to the Japanese request to prevent recurrence."
Relations between China and Japan, economic partners who are diplomatically cordial, always unfold against the backdrop of historical context -- namely the Japanese invasion and mistreatment of China in the years leading up to and during World War II.
"The issue of history was raised at both meetings," Takashima said.
Even today, China frequently brings up Japan's aggression, which remains a sensitive subject among many Chinese. Last week, China told Japan that "history really matters" and emphasized that Tokyo's 20th-century aggressions still reverberate.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
"Only if the two sides proceed from the overall situation of bilateral ties and appropriately tackle existing problems can the Sino-Japanese relationship overcome difficulties and score new progress," China's official Xinhua News Agency said, citing Wen.
Particularly galling to China are Koizumi's visits to the Tokyo war shrine, which honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead -- including convicted war criminals. Koizumi has visited the memorial four times since taking office in 2001, drawing rebukes each time from Beijing.
"We do hope the Chinese government and the Chinese people will understand the sincere reasons for Mr. Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine -- not to honor war criminals but to remember the Japanese civilians who suffered and on whose sacrifice the current prosperity of Japan has been built," Takashima said.
He added, "We hope neighboring countries, including China, will recognize our effort to become a peaceful nation."
Koizumi's visits have prevented Beijing from inviting him on a state visit, and that apparently hasn't changed: Takashima acknowledged China is "not in a position" to host the Japanese prime minister because of the shrine brouhaha.
Kawaguchi was also briefed on Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing's (李肇星) recent visit to North Korea, whose nuclear program is the subject of six-nation talks that include Japan and China.
Kawaguchi acknowledged the diplomatic bumps openly to Li as they began their meeting.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
RSS