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Chinese protesters rage at Japan on
anniversary
ESCALATING: Anti-Japanese demonstrations were held across China and one was
planned in Hong Kong, in remembrance of Japan¡¦s invasion of China 79 years ago
AFP, BEIJING
Sunday, Sep 19, 2010, Page 5
A man shouts slogans during an anti-Japan
protest over disputed islands the Chinese call the Diaoyutais and the Japanese
call Senkaku, near the Japanese embassy in Beijing on Saturday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Waving banners and chanting anti-Japanese slogans, protesters staged rallies in
China yesterday to voice anger over the arrest of a Chinese trawler captain
which has sparked a major diplomatic row.
¡§Down with little Japan,¡¨ ¡§free our captain¡¨ and ¡§remember Sept. 18,¡¨
demonstrators shouted in Beijing as sirens rang out to commemorate yesterday¡¦s
highly sensitive anniversary of Japan¡¦s invasion of Manchuria in 1931.
Beijing is furious about the seizure of a Chinese fishing boat near a disputed
island chain in the East China Sea and the subsequent arrest of the captain.
Tokyo says he intentionally rammed two Japanese coastguard vessels during a
high-seas chase on Sept. 7.
The incident has sparked the worst tensions between the Asian neighbors in
years, with Beijing summoning Tokyo¡¦s ambassador five times in a week and
scrapping scheduled talks over joint energy exploration in the East China Sea.
The uninhabited islands ¡X called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyutai (³¨³½¥x) in China,
and also claimed by Taiwan ¡X lie in an area with rich fishing grounds that is
also believed to contain oil and gas deposits.
Tokyo had warned its citizens in China to remain vigilant to ensure their safety
in the event of any backlash over the dispute.
More than 100 demonstrators staged a rally near Japan¡¦s embassy in Beijing and a
group also stopped outside the Chinese foreign ministry, where they chanted
¡§down with the traitors to the motherland¡¨ and urged China to ¡§retake the
Diaoyutai islands.
In Shanghai, around 20 demonstrators gathered near the Japanese consulate and
several were arrested. Other protesters tried unsuccessfully to block the police
car taking them away.
Sirens wailed in several cities to mark the anniversary of Japan¡¦s occupation of
a swathe of northern-eastern China which began with an assault on the city of
Shenyang 79 years ago.
The atrocities committed by Japanese forces have cast a long shadow over
relations between the two economic powerhouses, with frequent calls on Tokyo to
apologize.
This year, Sept. 18 coincides with National Defence Education Day, with
military drills held across China.
¡§An outstanding nation must be a nation that respects history,¡¨ said Wang Jinsi
(¤ýÀA«ä), a member of the Chinese Society for Anti-Japanese War History, according
to Xinhua. ¡§To remember history is not to remember hatred but to prevent the
tragedy from recurring.¡¨
A demonstration was also planned in Hong Kong yesterday.
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