Japan's media said yesterday the country's distrust of China had grown with the intrusion of a Chinese nuclear submarine, as Beijing stayed silent for a second day on Tokyo's demands for an apology.
"Tokyo had every reason to request an apology from Beijing for its violation of Japanese sovereignty and demand it ensure nothing like the recent incident will ever happen again," the best-selling Yomiuri Shimbun said in an editorial.
"The Chinese submarine's behavior was enough to arouse our great distrust," it said.
The Mainichi Shimbun, which is known for its liberal views, said Beijing should respond promptly to the apology demand.
"The fact is clear that [China] has entered our territorial waters," the Mainichi said in an editorial.
"China must immediately disclose the outcome of its investigation and come up with preventive measures," it said.
"We demand China's honest response."
Japan says a nuclear submarine violated its southern waters for two hours Wednesday near a disputed gas field, triggering a two-day chase on the high seas.
Japan, after initial caution about blaming its neighbor and growing competitor, on Friday summoned a top Chinese diplomat in Tokyo to demand an apology.
China said yesterday only that it was continuing to look into the Japanese claims and state media failed even to report that Japan had formally protested.
The Chinese foreign ministry yesterday reiterated the position it took during the submarine chase, saying it was trying to "gain further understanding on the situation."
The summoned Chinese diplomat, Cheng Yonghua, told Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura he could not apologize as his government's investigation was pending, a Japanese diplomat in Beijing said.
"He said he didn't intend to apologize because he didn't have any information yet," the diplomat said, asking not to be identified.
China harbors deep resentment over the brutal Japanese occupation from 1931 to 1945.
The feeling has been regularly reinforced by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a shrine that honors Japanese war dead including convicted war criminals.
The conservative daily Sankei Shimbun called China's behavior "unforgivable."
"At least China must clarify the cause of the incident and promise us it will never do this again," the Sankei said in an editorial, adding that Japan should take unspecified "counter-measures" if China failed to show an "honest response."
"If we are soft in handling the incident, China will likely repeat illegal acts over and over," the Sankei said.
The major liberal daily Asahi Shimbun did not have an editorial on the submarine intrusion, but quoted a senior foreign ministry official as saying: "This is a game of diplomacy. We'll see how they respond and find out whether China is a country like North Korea or a country with transparency."
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
RSS