Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010

BEIJING (Kyodo) Thousands of people in at least three Chinese cities protested Saturday against Japan over its control of the Senkaku Islands, which China claims and calls Diaoyu Islands, according to official media and other sources.

Outnumbered: Protesters surround policemen during an anti-Japan protest in Chengdu, China, on Saturday. AP PHOTO

Thousands marched through the main streets of Chengdu, capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, from around 2 p.m., unfurling banners and shouting "Defend the Diaoyu Islands," "Fight Japan" and other slogans, Xinhua news agency reported.

It said the protest ended at about 3:30 p.m. with no reports of violence.

But according to officials of Japanese retailers Ito-Yokado and Isetan, protesters barged into their stores in the city and caused damage, including broken windows and showcases.

In Xi'an, capital of the northwest province of Shaanxi, thousands of college students marched with flags and banners, shouting slogans such as "Boycott Japanese goods," and singing the Chinese national anthem, Xinhua reported.

It said some set fire to Japanese flags and broke into a Mizuno sportswear shop, but riot police rushed to the scene and got the situation under control.

All Japanese shops along the route of the protest had closed, the report said.

In Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, college students thronged to a downtown square at about 2 p.m. and then marched through the city shouting "Long live the motherland" and "Return the Diaoyu Islands to China," it said.

It said some protesters said they learned about the protest on the Internet and gathered there voluntarily.

Xinhua noted there had been a report on a Chinese news website, ifeng.com., that said Japanese rightwing groups had planned to mobilize 3,000 people to protest against China on Saturday in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo.

The latest Chinese protests follow a row between China and Japan over the arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain after a Sept. 7 collision between his trawler and pursuing Japan Coast Guard patrol boats in Japanese territorial waters near the Japan-administered Senkakus.

After Beijing strongly protested and announced a series of measures against Japan, including a suspension of high-level dialogue, the captain was released and returned to China to a hero's welcome.

Saturday's anti-Japan protests were the first of their kind since April 2005.

Xinhua paraphrased Yan Xuetong, director of the International Studies Center at Tsinghua University, as saying that China-Japan relations "are experiencing an era of frequent turbulence that would last for 10 to 15 years as China's rising economic and political power has triggered discontent among Japanese people."

According to the official news agency, whose reports generally reflect the government's view, Yan said both sides have tried to avoid deep-rooted problems and focus on common interests, but instability in bilateral ties would just get worse.

Demonstrators rallied in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon apparently to protest Beijing's handling of a dispute with Japan over the Senkaku Islands.

With many police officers positioned around the diplomatic mission, tension ran high at one point but no major disturbances were observed.

Before arriving at the embassy, the demonstrators gathered at a nearby park and then marched through the Roppongi district chanting, "The Senkakus are Japanese territory," and "The Democratic Party of Japan government, release the video footage of the incident to the public," referring to maritime collisions between a Chinese trawler and Japan Coast Guard patrol boats near the islands.

The Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan as part of the city of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, but are also claimed by China, which calls them the Diaoyu. The Japan Coast Guard taped the Sept. 7 incident that led to the arrest of the skipper of the Chinese boat.

In Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, a rally was also held to protest intrusions and illegal fishing by foreign nationals in Japanese waters.

Local governments and fishermen pleaded that they want to fish in a safe environment.

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