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Protesters rally during Hu visit
Reuters, YOKOHAMA, Japan
Thousands of Japanese took to the streets yesterday during a visit by Chinese
President Hu Jintao (JÀAÀÜ), protesting against what they said was Beijing¡¦s
imperialism in a territorial dispute with Japan.
Relations between Asia¡¦s two biggest economies have been soured by a spat over
disputed islands in the East China Sea. Public anger has been fuelled in Japan
by the recent leaking of a video that shows a Chinese fishing boat appearing to
steer into Japanese patrol vessels.
¡§The islands are Japanese territories ... It is only after it became known that
the area has resources that China has tried to take them away from us,¡¨ said
Misae Fukumoto, a 35-year-old kimono-clad housewife who, like many others, said
she was protesting for the first time.
Hu is in town for the APEC summit.
The Chinese side has declined so far to say whether Hu will accept an invitation
for bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
Hu barely smiled when he was welcomed by Kan to a lunch with APEC leaders.
It was the fourth such demonstration since September, attracting protesters from
all walks of life and organized by a nationalist group led by Toshio Tamogami, a
former air force general who has argued that Japan was not an -aggressor during
World War II.
Trouble with Moscow after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited another set
of islands that Tokyo claims has also spurred nationalist sentiment and added to
headaches for Kan, who has seen his support rating slide over his handling of
the rows.
A crowd of more than 3,000 gathered peacefully in Yokohama, under heavy police
guard, carrying large Japanese flags and placards with slogans like ¡§Down with
China¡¦s imperialism¡¨ and ¡§We will not allow Communist China to invade our
territories.¡¨
They did not come near the venue where the leaders were meeting. The size of the
crowd was an indication of how the issues have attracted ordinary Japanese to
the nationalist cause.
¡§We are not extremists ...we are ordinary people who have come to protest
against China and our own government,¡¨ said Ayano Miyakawa, a 29-year-old
housewife, who came with her two children.
The protest was one of at least seven planned yesterday in Yokohama, a port city
and known for having Japan¡¦s biggest Chinatown, with anti-globalization
activists, helmeted left-wing students and various nationalist groups also
marching.
The shouts of one group of protesters could be heard inside the sprawling
conference center, demanding the return of islands claimed by Japan but held by
Russia.
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