Foreign and Military Affairs
Japan defies fact, draws protest on Diaoyu Islands
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-21 20:39
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Protests from Chinese public
The public in China has been angered by Japan's illegal detention of the Chinese captain, staging protests both in major Chinese cities and on the Internet.
Demonstrators gathered outside Japanese diplomatic residences across China on Saturday, which also marked the 79th anniversary of Japan's invasion into China.
In Beijing, dozens of protestors gathered outside the Japanese embassy, unfurling banners and shouting "Japan, get out of the Diaoyu Islands," "Boycott Japanese goods," "Don't forget national humiliation, don't forget September 18."
"I think every Chinese in every trade and profession should take action," said a protester who only gave his surname as Wu.
The Chinese trawler captain was illegally detained by a Japanese court earlier this month after a fishing boat under his command was illegally seized by the Japanese Coast Guard in waters off the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
The incident has since triggered widespread indignation and protests in China. Though Japan has released the boat and other crew members under mounting pressure from China, the captain is still being held.
The Japanese authorities on Sunday afternoon extended the illegal detention of the captain to Sept 29.
In front of the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai, protesters displayed a banner reading "THE DIAOYU ISLANDS IS CHINA'S. THE DETENTION OF THE BOAT IS ILLEGAL. GIVE THE CAPTAIN BACK TO US."
They also shouted slogans such as "Give the Diaoyu Islands back to us."
Similar protests were also staged outside the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang.
Also on Saturday, almost 100 people marched through downtown Shenzhen, protesting Japan's detention of the Chinese boat captain.
Hundreds of Hong Kong people marched to the Japanese consulate on Saturday to protest over the continued detention of the fishing boat captain.
The protesters started the demonstration Saturday afternoon from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay and ended up gathering outside the Japanese consulate, unfurling banners "DON'T FORGET SEPT 18, GIVE THE DIAOYU ISLANDS BACK TO US."
Protests have also been staged recently in China's Taiwan.
According to media reports, a fishing boat from Taiwan dispatched by a civilian organization safeguarding Diaoyu Islands reached the waters of the islands on Sept 14 to protest the Japanese move.
On the same day, some 100 representatives of Taiwan fishermen and civilian organizations launched protests in Taibei, calling on Chinese across the world to safeguard territory.
The outraged Chinese public has also been flooding the Internet with strong protests over Japan's move, calling on Japan to immediately and unconditionally release Zhan Qixiong, the Chinese captain.
Since the incident, "Diaoyu Islands" and "Zhan Qixiong" have become the most searched terms in China's Internet community, the world's largest online community with more than 400 million Internet users.
Meanwhile, Internet bulletin boards on several major Chinese news portals have been overwhelmed with messages saying that the Diaoyu Islands have always been an integral part of China and it's within the rights of Chinese fishermen to fish in the waters around the islands.
"The seizure of our trawler and captain has done great harm to the Chinese people. I strongly demand that Japan return the seized trawler and apologize," said a netizen on Sohu.com, who goes by the name of "1996."
Damage to Sino-Japanese relations
On Sunday, China's Foreign Ministry said that China's relations with Japan were being severely damaged by Japan's decision to prolong Zhan's detention, warning that China would take "strong countermeasures" if Japan did not release him.
"China will take strong countermeasures if the Japanese side clings obstinately to its own course and double its mistakes, and Japan shall bear all the consequences," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a press statement.
China has already suspended bilateral exchanges at and above the ministerial levels, and halted contact with Japan on the issues of increasing civil flights and expanding aviation rights between the two countries, according to the ministry. The number of Chinese tourists to Japan has already plunged.
Wang Hanling, a maritime law expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua: "That Japan conducted its so-called law enforcement by force in the waters off the Diaoyu Islands was in defiance of the principles of international law as well as Chinese law. This shows that Japan is anxious to assert its so-called 'sovereignty' in the area."
"It also showed that Japanese politicians were short-sighted in considering Sino-Japanese relations," Wang added.
An article published online recently by The Wall Street Journal said it "would be dangerous" for Japan to do that.
"While Japan needs to show that it won't be intimidated," using Diaoyu Islands to do so would be dangerous, it said.
