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Japan planning to ask
China for protest damage
AFP, TOKYO and SEOUL
Tokyo will ask Beijing to pay for damage caused to its diplomatic missions
during violent anti-Japanese protests over disputed islands, the government said
yesterday.
The announcement came as authorities in China appeared to be tamping down public
anger, banning demonstrations even as leaders kept up the rhetoric.
¡§Regarding damage to our embassies and consulates, we plan to demand
compensation [from China] as it is an issue between the governments,¡¨ Japanese
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters in Tokyo.
Fujimura said any damage to property owned by Japanese businesses in China
should be handled there under domestic law.
However, in a conciliatory note, Fujimura said Tokyo would reach out to China.
¡§The prime minister is considering sending a special envoy as part of our
government¡¦s efforts in seeking to resolve the issue cool-headedly through
various diplomatic routes,¡¨ he said.
¡§But at this point, no specifics such as who would be appointed or how we would
send the person is decided yet,¡¨ he added.
Tens of thousands of anti-Japanese demonstrators have rallied across China since
late last week, with some vandalizing Japanese shops and factories, forcing
firms to shut or scale back production.
Protests reached a peak on Tuesday, the anniversary of the 1931 Mukden Incident,
when Japanese Imperial troops staged an attack on a Japanese-owned railway as a
pretext for invasion and occupation of present-day northeast China.
The protests all but disappeared on Wednesday, with the Japanese embassy saying
demonstrators had been told not to return.
Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (¦ã¥¼¥¼) yesterday said they had been
orchestrated by officials.
The row centers on the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islands in the East China Sea,
which are also claimed by Taiwan and China under the name Diaoyutai (³¨³½¥x).
The Japan Coast Guard said yesterday it was monitoring 10 Chinese ships ¡X four
marine surveillance ships and six fisheries patrol boats ¡X in waters near the
chain. There had been 14 in the area on Wednesday.
Asia¡¦s two largest economies have wrangled about the islands since the 1970s,
but the row flared up last month after pro-China activists landed on one of
them.
Tensions escalated dramatically after the Japanese government bought three of
them from their private owners.
Meanwhile, in Seoul, dozens of Chinese students, carrying banners and shouting
slogans, protested outside Japan¡¦s embassy in the South Korean capital yesterday
to show their support for Beijing in the bitter territorial row with Tokyo.
¡§Diaoyu is China¡¦s territory. Don¡¦t invade our territory!¡¨ more than 40
protesters from a Seoul-based Chinese student association chanted outside the
embassy.
The students were outnumbered nearly 3 to 1 by police who had circled the
entrance to the Japanese mission with more than a dozen buses parked end-to-end
to block access.
Efforts by the protesters to move closer to the embassy were quickly rebuffed
and police sought to keep the slogan-shouting to a minimum, warning the students
to follow ¡§Korean rules in Korea.¡¨
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