Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan voiced regret yesterday over a wave of angry anti-Japanese protests in China over the weekend, sparked by a tense territorial row between the Asian economic giants.
Thousands of mostly young Chinese protesters took to the streets of at least four cities to assert China’s claim to a disputed island chain where a maritime incident six weeks ago kicked off the heated diplomatic spat.
In protests apparently organized on the Internet and via cellphone text messages following an anti-Chinese rally in Tokyo on Saturday, thousands of protesters took to the streets, calling for a boycott of Japanese goods.
In several of the rallies, demonstrators smashed windows of Japanese businesses, including a Panasonic outlet and an Isetan department store, and attacked Japanese brand cars, news -reports in Japan said.
The rallies, which Chinese authorities struggled to contain, were the largest since 2005, when then-Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi stoked fury by visiting the controversial Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo.
Asia’s two biggest economies and traditional rivals have been embroiled in the worst feud in years after Japan arrested a Chinese trawler captain near the disputed islands almost six weeks ago, although it later released him.
The chain of uninhabited islands, called Senkaku in Japanese, lie between Japan’s Okinawa island and Taiwan, in a part of the East China Sea with rich fishing grounds and thought to contain energy deposits. The islands are also claimed by Taiwan, which calls them the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台).
China has issued a barrage of protests and angry editorials in its state media over the row, while also taking punitive economic steps, including halting the export of rare earths minerals crucial for high-tech products.
Beijing and Tokyo have since sought to repair their relationship, and possibly hold a summit later this month, but the weekend protests in both countries showed that the incident has stirred strong nationalistic passions.
“The government has expressed its regret over the demonstrations against Japan on the 16th and 17th in China and strongly requested that Japanese companies be protected,” Kan told parliament yesterday.
He said Sino-Japanese ties are “a very important bilateral relationship.”
“Recently we have faced some issues, but both sides need to make efforts to handle the situation calmly so as to seek a strategic mutually beneficial relationship,” Kan said.
Thousands marched on -Saturday in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, Henan Province and the ancient capital of Xi-an. On Sunday, demonstrators gathered in Mianyang in the southwest.
“About 10,000 youths marched down the street outside our shop,” a woman in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, told reporters by telephone.
“They were shouting: ‘Defend the Diaoyu islands’ and ‘Boycott Japanese goods,’” said the woman, who declined to give her name.
Japan’s Asahi newspaper said the protests seemed to be a reaction to an angry rally in Tokyo, where almost 2,000 people protested outside the Chinese Embassy on Saturday, chanting slogans and waving Japanese flags.
After the first protests on Saturday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu (馬朝旭) said: “It is understandable that some people expressed their outrage against the recent erroneous words and deeds on the Japanese side.”
However, apparently seeking to calm the situation, Ma added: “We maintain that patriotism should be expressed rationally and in line with law. We don’t agree with irrational actions that violate laws and regulations.”
“We advocate properly resolving those issues through dialogue and making joint efforts to safeguard the strategic bilateral relationship or mutual benefit,” Ma said in a statement.
Security was increased in the area near the Japanese Embassy in Beijing yesterday, a correspondent witnessed. An embassy official told reporters that there had not been any protests over the weekend.
Japanese media said the protests broke out, mostly in more lightly policed inland cities far from the capital, while political leaders were in Beijing for a communist party congress, possibly catching authorities by surprise.
Japan’s Nikkei finance daily said in an editorial yesterday: “We are worried about the tendency among university students and young people, who were the main force, to choose unlawful action. The Chinese authorities should take stern measures to prevent a recurrence of the destructive activities.”
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