China Protesters Attack Japanese Targets
Apr 9, 9:00 AM (ET)

BEIJING (Reuters) - Thousands of Chinese smashed windows and threw rocks at the Japanese embassy and ambassador's residence in Beijing on Saturday in a protest against Japan's wartime past and its bid for a U.N. Security Council seat.

Protesters pushed their way through a paramilitary police cordon to the gates of the Japanese ambassador's residence, throwing stones and water bottles and shouting "Japanese pig come out."

Some 500 paramilitary police holding plastic shields raced into the compound and barricaded the gates. Protesters threw stones and bricks at the residence, and shouted at police, "Chinese people shouldn't protect Japanese."

Anti-Japanese sentiment has been running high in China since Tuesday Japan when approved a textbook critics say whitewashes atrocities committed during World War II, and many Chinese feel the country has not owned up to its wartime aggression.

Demonstrators, who said they had been organized mostly through e-mail and instant messaging, had been marching peacefully under heavy police guard.

One group began throwing bottles and stones when they passed a Japanese restaurant, smashing windows with tiles they had ripped from its roof before police stopped them.

A second Japanese restaurant was targeted later in the evening, with bricks thrown through the window, terrifying kimono-clad waitresses.

"We are all Chinese in here and were just minding our own business," one told Reuters minutes after the attack. "This is terrifying."

She said some of the protesters had helped them clean up and advised them not to wear such sensitive uniforms.

Protesters also attacked a Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi branch and smashed windows before police moved in.

Another group outside the embassy in southeast Beijing threw stones and plastic water bottles smashing windows in the compound, a Reuters photographer said. Some demonstrators scuffled with police.

The violence prompted an official protest in Tokyo by Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi who asked Chinese Minister to Japan Cheng Yonghua to strengthen security, Kyodo news agency said.

By 7.30 p.m. (7:30 a.m. EDT), the main crowd just outside the gates to the Japanese ambassador's residence had dispersed, but hundreds of others, many of them marchers who arrived late, remained at the corner of the compound.

Police used loudspeakers to try to persuade the students to go back to their universities.

LARGE PROTESTS RARE

The demonstration started in the Beijing neighborhood of Zhongguancun, known for its electronics shops and home to a large student population, and comes less than a week after anti-Japanese protests in other Chinese cities turned violent.

"Japan doesn't face up to its history," said Cheng Lei, a 27-year-old information technology professional. "We want to express our feelings so the Japanese government knows what we think."

Police declined to say how many protesters were on the streets, but the official Xinhua news agency put the number at more than 10,000. Onlookers thronged the streets, cheering on the demonstration and snapping photos as scores of police looked on.

Large-scale protests are rare in China, where the Communist leadership is concerned about maintaining stability at a time of wrenching social change and a widening gap between rich and poor.

Past demonstrations outside the Japanese embassy have typically been heavily policed, choreographed events involving about 50 people, with short speeches, some singing and petitions or letters being presented to the mission.

Last week, protesters smashed windows at a Japanese supermarket in the southwestern city of Chengdu after a demonstration there against Japan's bid for a permanent Security Council seat turned violent.

Demonstrators also took to the streets in Guangzhou, Chongqing and the southern city of Shenzhen, where two Japanese department stores were vandalized.

Domestic media said 20 million Chinese had signed an online petition opposing the U.N. seat bid.

KICKING A TOYOTA

Many Chinese harbor deep resentment of Japan's wartime aggression and what they see as its failure to own up to atrocities.

Some protesters wore red signs pasted to their chests bearing a traditional Chinese dragon and reading "Reject Japanese goods." Others began kicking a Toyota car caught in the middle of the crowd before it managed to drive away.

"Across the country, the mood to refuse Japanese goods is high, but nothing has been done about this. Therefore, patriotic students have organized themselves," said a notice circulated by e-mail on Friday urging people to protest.

On Saturday, the mostly student protesters carried signboards with lists of Japanese brand names crossed out and chanted slogans outside an electronics plaza urging the boycott.

Police guarded the entrance to the electronics plaza to stop demonstrators from pushing inside, and at least 20 police vans stood by to prevent the protest from escalating as the group chanted "Rise up, rise up, rise up." (Additional reporting by Brian Rhoads, Benjamin Kang Lim, Lucy Hornsby, and Reuters Television)

All I want to say is that nothing happens in China spontaneously. The government instigates and allows "spontaneous" riots to occur.

All I want to say is that nothing happens in China spontaneously. The government instigates and allows "spontaneous" riots to occur.
And you base this claim on what evidence?

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Topic moved to Tea House.

It's not just China, it happens in Cuba and other authoritarian regimes. Spontaneous gatherings of people scare the crap out of the Communist Party. Example: Tiannamen Square was totally spontaneous and the government didn't know how to deal with it. Finally, after wracking their brains they sent in the "Peoples' Liberation Army." They liberated the Chinese protesters from their lives on earth.

It's not just China, it happens in Cuba and other authoritarian regimes. Spontaneous gatherings of people scare the crap out of the Communist Party. Example: Tiannamen Square was totally spontaneous and the government didn't know how to deal with it. Finally, after wracking their brains they sent in the "Peoples' Liberation Army." They liberated the Chinese protesters from their lives on earth.
Well during the Tiananmen, the people were protesting against the government.

In this case, the people are protesting against a FOREIGN government, which means no threat to the CCP.

Unless the people started turning against the CCP, I don't see why CCP should be "scared" and conduct any military action.

Also, how do you know that the PRC government didn't send in any crowd control? I'm sure the PRC doesn't want protests like this to go overboard and end up hurting themselves.

In any case, lack of military action from the PRC simply isn't evidence that PRC is "INSTIGATING" and "ENCOURAGING" such protests.

------------

Protests such as this is not uncommon around the world.

Just anti-Japan protests alone, South Korea has had its share in recent years as well, does that mean the SK government is "INSTIGATING" or "ENCOURAGING" such behaviors?

nick do you consider south korea an authoritarian regime?

similar things are happening there, why? do some research.

I do know what the Japanese did in WWII to the Chinese people and to the Korean people throughout their occupation of the Korean peninsula. I also know that the Japanese have never apologized to any country it invaded or occupied and killed millions of people. I know about the Nanjing Massacre and the Korean "comfort women."

But, the "Cultural Revolution" in China killed many people too, just that they were Chinese killing Chinese. Now that China is growing and people are getting greater income, they are allowing their nationalistic love of China (which is good) to blind themselves from seeing that they are ruled by an authoritarian regime. It is very similar to Germany in the 1930's when the Nazis came to power. Hitler gave people jobs in the military industries and the majority of the country felt proud to be German again. This was when Hitler started the concentration camps for people who he didn't like politically. Most Germans did nothing because they allowed their national pride to hide the hideous side of the Nazis.

Sen and Pangu, are you two members of the Chinese Communist Party?

Pangu's from Taiwan =P

I do know what the Japanese did in WWII to the Chinese people and to the Korean people throughout their occupation of the Korean peninsula. I also know that the Japanese have never apologized to any country it invaded or occupied and killed millions of people. I know about the Nanjing Massacre and the Korean "comfort women."

But, the "Cultural Revolution" in China killed many people too, just that they were Chinese killing Chinese. Now that China is growing and people are getting greater income, they are allowing their nationalistic love of China (which is good) to blind themselves from seeing that they are ruled by an authoritarian regime. It is very similar to Germany in the 1930's when the Nazis came to power. Hitler gave people jobs in the military industries and the majority of the country felt proud to be German again. This was when Hitler started the concentration camps for people who he didn't like politically. Most Germans did nothing because they allowed their national pride to hide the hideous side of the Nazis.

Sen and Pangu, are you two members of the Chinese Communist Party?

the protest is fueled by some actions by japanese government recently(For china the textbook and Japan's bid for UNSC, for korea the textbook and japanese claim on a korean island) it's not like chinese talk about nanjing massacre everyday, but japan keeps doing inappropriate things.

the party is notorious, but it's still our government, and when it comes to issues dealing with foreign countries, we need to stand together. and even you mentioned thanks to the party many chinese are getting higher incomes. you have to bear in mind chinese have never experienced democracy before, china it's one dynasty after another dynasty, i still consider PRC a new dynasty after a fragmentation period(from 1911 to 1949), though officially it's a republic. of course the difference is this dynasty is not ruled by a single emperor but by a group of people (not a dictatorship, much like oligarchy in sparta), now the time is good, so people dont want to rebel, but history has proven when the ruler becomes bad, the people will get fed up, and there will be revolts. I'd like to see CCP go for good ultimately, i personally like the singapore style democracy, i dont think US democracy is suitable for us. but right now it's not the time, if CCP collapse tomorrow, ok one problem is gone, but there will be many new problems? who will rule China? will democracy be successful in china or maybe the new government will be even worse? we might even go to civil wars again. nevertheless, i think there should be more human rights in china, i agree it HAS improved, but more should be done. BUT i am not fond of the idea of general elctions.

no i am not a member of communist party, i dont like CCP very much mainly because i am a nationalist, therefore i consider confucian ethics essential for the chinese, it was destroyed by communist during cultural revolution. We can thank CCP for the immorality in china today, although many people argue the economic reforms and westernisation probably was a far more important factor than cutlural revolution.

I do know what the Japanese did in WWII to the Chinese people and to the Korean people throughout their occupation of the Korean peninsula. I also know that the Japanese have never apologized to any country it invaded or occupied and killed millions of people. I know about the Nanjing Massacre and the Korean "comfort women."

But, the "Cultural Revolution" in China killed many people too, just that they were Chinese killing Chinese. Now that China is growing and people are getting greater income, they are allowing their nationalistic love of China (which is good) to blind themselves from seeing that they are ruled by an authoritarian regime. It is very similar to Germany in the 1930's when the Nazis came to power. Hitler gave people jobs in the military industries and the majority of the country felt proud to be German again. This was when Hitler started the concentration camps for people who he didn't like politically. Most Germans did nothing because they allowed their national pride to hide the hideous side of the Nazis.

Sen and Pangu, are you two members of the Chinese Communist Party?

Hum... If you open your history book and read about Hitler's begginings, you'll find out the two countries you compare were living different story at the time. Germany was in a bad economic crisis that lasted long after 1929 (not ended up in 1933, Hitler's first election). On the other side, China is making big progress and Chinese people are hopefull their country will make a slow turn towards more wealth and democracy.
So on one side a nationalisic wrath leading to blindness, and on the other hopes that make people more (too?) patient. Looks different to me.

By the way, chinese people I know are rather angry at the japanese attitude in this affair, so why people wouldn't want to demonstrate spontaneously?

I think this is an generally Anti-Japanese protest stage not by the government, but stage by the people. Implicitly this protest is also against the government for not taking a tougher line with Japan.

All I want to say is that nothing happens in China spontaneously. The government instigates and allows "spontaneous" riots to occur.
sounds like typical Japanese. they often think Chinese hate them because of the communist brainwash.:hahaha:
German cannot worship Hitler now but Japanese Prime Minister worship their Hitler every year. i don't think Jews would let someone worship Nazist leaders.
Sen and Pangu, are you two members of the Chinese Communist Party?
you seems not able to distinguish a countryman and a communist. also, don't mix Mao's stupid economic policies in his country with Japanese facists atrocities in other countries. Only the Chinese people are capable to judge Mao's policies.

R u guys having fun arguing with a FLG bigot? ~~

More news (http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=195109) here

Sen and Pangu, are you two members of the Chinese Communist Party?
Yes, I worship Mao even though I was born and raised in Taiwan and both of my grandfathers were in the ROC (KMT) Air Force and fought against the CCP... http://www.theasf.net/forums/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif

You seem to think anyone who isn't anti-China MUST be a communist... http://www.theasf.net/forums/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif

哈哈。。。你们身为中国人一定要团结，知道吗！嘻嘻，偶也是很鄙视日本人的。

Tokyo demands apology, compensation for anti-Japan rally in China

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Tokyo lodged a formal protest with Beijing over a violent anti-Japan protest in the Chinese capital, demanding an apology and compensation.

Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura summoned China's ambassador to Japan, Wang Yi, a day after the rally which drew up to 10,000 people and ended with angry demonstrators throwing rocks, bottles and eggs at the Japanese embassy.

"We formally demanded China's apology and compensation," Machimura told reporters.

However, when asked whether Wang apologized, Machimura said: "No."

Machimura will likely visit China next Sunday to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing, a foreign ministry official said.

Meanwhile Wang told reporters that Beijing did not condone the violent behaviour.

"The (Chinese) government does not agree with extreme action," Wang said.

China appealed for calm after the demonstration, saying a huge police force had been mobilized to keep order after Beijing's biggest protest in six years.

But about 3,000 protesters gathered outside the Japanese consulate in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Sunday, according to a consulate official.

TV footage of the Beijing embassy showed broken windows and the main entrance littered with empty bottles and rocks. Foreign journalists were refused entry to the embassy to survey the damage on Sunday, a diplomat said in Beijing.

Japanese embassy spokesman Keiji Ide told AFP that 20 of the embassy building's windows were broken and five windows were smashed at the ambassador's residence in a different part of town.

The march was held to protest Japan's treatment of its wartime past in a history textbook and its bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

The textbook row prompted China on Tuesday to summon the Japanese ambassador, who in a break from usual practice made his own demands, urging Beijing to put an end to alleged incitement of anti-Japanese sentiments.

China suffered a bloody occupation by Japan up to 1945, the most infamous incident being the 1937 massacre by Japanese troops of both soldiers and civilians in Nanjing.

Saturday's rowdy protest received front-page coverage in Japan's five major newspapers Sunday with the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun calling on China to exercise "self-restraint" following the rally.

Japan's conservative daily Sankei Shimbun strongly criticized Beijing, saying the Chinese government appeared to have approved of anti-Japanese action.

"What is troubling is that despite Beijing's promises to ensure security for the Japanese side, Chinese authorities did not prevent demonstrators from throwing rocks and bottles," the Sankei said.

The Asian neighbors have increasingly been at loggerheads. In November, Japan lodged a protest when a Chinese nuclear submarine intruded its waters near bitterly disputed gas reserves.

China has protested visits to Japan by Taiwan's former pro-independence president Lee Teng-hui in December and Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama who arrived Friday.

Lol, a French stands with Chinese and a self-claimed Chinese stands with Japanese.

China rocked by second day of anti-Japanese rallies, Japan protests

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Up to 20,000 anti-Japanese protesters took to the streets of two southern Chinese cities, as Japan demanded an apology for a violent rally outside its embassy in Beijing the previous day.

Burning Japanese flags and waving banners demanding the country face up to its wartime past, around 10,000 people marched on the Japanese consulate in the city of Guangzhou Sunday, said Japanese embassy spokesman Keiji Ide.

Another 10,000 people gathered outside a Japanese supermarket named Jusco in the nearby city of Shenzhen.

An eyewitness in Guangzhou and a protester in Shenzhen said many protesters were wearing T-shirts and carrying banners reading "Don't buy Japanese products," "Terminate Sino-Japanese relations" and "Don't alter history".

Demonstrators were seen kicking a Mitsubishi car and tearing down a Sony billboard. Eggs, bottles and tomatoes were thrown at a Japanese restaurant. As they marched, the protesters sang the national anthem and wartime resistance songs.

Several thousand police ringed the office block housing the consulate and a police van with a loudspeaker later urged the crowd to go home.

Around 100 hardcore protesters tried to break through fences and there were minor scuffles before the four-hour demonstration ended around 1:00 pm.

On Saturday more than 10,000 protesters marched through Beijing, hurling rocks, bottles and eggs and shouting abuse outside the Japanese embassy and the residence of the Japanese ambassador. They broke a total of 25 windows in the buildings.

The protest were triggered by Tokyo's decision to approve a new school textbook which both China and South Korea say glosses over Japanese wartime atrocities.

The demonstrators, most of whom were university students, were also protesting against Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. The Japanese government on Sunday demanded an apology. It called the violence "extremely regrettable" and requested China take measures to protect its citizens and businesses.

"We formally demanded China's apology and compensation," Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura told reporters after summoning China's ambassador to Japan, Wang Yi.

China said it has repeatedly appealed for protesters to be calm and rational.

"The isolated extreme actions that happened during the protests are something we did not want to see," said foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

China said it was not responsible for the current state of Sino-Japanese relations, blaming worsening ties on Japan's failure to atone for its wartime past.

"The Japanese side must earnestly and properly treat major issues that relate to Chinese people's feelings such as the history of invasion against China ...," Qin said.

The government, which routinely cracks down on protests, made no effort to stop the demonstrations -- a sign that they are approved.

One man who joined the march to the Guangzhou consulate said he was furious with Japan.

"I hate Japan. I want to beat them (Japanese people) as soon as I see them," said the man, who identified himself as Xiao Dao.

Another protestor, surnamed Geng, said he felt a duty to demonstrate.

"As a Chinese, I think I ought to attend it. I think we should not resort to violence but at least we should express ourselves," Geng told AFP.

Japanese diplomats said there have been no injuries from the protests.

In Shanghai, however, two Japanese students sustained minor head injuries after they were attacked with a beer mug and an ashtray at a restaurant by a group of Chinese, the Japanese foreign ministry said.

In a sign that China does not want the protests to get out of hand, state-controlled media blacked out coverage of them, even though the Beijing protest was the largest in the capital since one by the banned spiritual group Falungong in 1999.

Trade has been skyrocketing and Beijing will not want to see a drop in Japanese investment in the country, analysts said.

"Beijing will not allow the protests to go on for too long," said Shi Yinhong, a political expert at People's University.

"Some government officials may think this can be used as leverage against Japan but at the same time, it can restrict the government."

2 Japanese students beaten up at Shanghai restaurant
Sunday, April 10, 2005 at 17:16 JST


SHANGHAI — Two Japanese students were beaten at a restaurant in Shanghai on Saturday night and sustained injuries, the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai said Sunday. The students were beaten with a beer mug and an ashtray by an unknown number of Chinese, consulate officials said.

The two received treatment at a local hospital and later returned home. Consulate officials said the two were assailed after they identified themselves as Japanese shortly after entering the restaurant together with a group of foreign students. There were four Japanese students in the group. (Kyodo News)

Japan protection call over protests
Sunday, April 10, 2005 Posted: 1155 GMT (1955 HKT)

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/04/10/china.japan.protest/story.protestsun.ap.jpghttp://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/04/10/china.japan.protest/top.protests.ap.jpg

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Japan's ambassador has called on the Chinese government to take stronger measures to protect its citizens as thousands of protesters demand a boycott of Japanese products and shout anti-Japanese slogans.

The protests are aimed at Japan's bid to become a permanent U.N. Security Council member and have been made more emotional by Chinese objections to how Japanese school textbooks recount Japan's 20th century military campaigns.

Sunday's protest by about 20,000 protesters in two cities in the southern Guangdong province followed Saturday's angry demonstration at Japan's embassy in Beijing.

About 10,000 Chinese surrounded Japan's consulate in Guangzhou, capital of the Guangdong province, carrying anti-Japanese banners and Chinese flags while they sang, shouted and chanted. Several Japanese flags were burned.

About 10,000 Chinese also marched on a Japanese department store in the city of Shenzhen, also in the Guangdong province.

Japanese press attache Ide Keiji told reporters Sunday that Japan's envoy Koreshige Anami talked by phone with Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister and called Saturday's protest, in which rocks and bottles were thrown at the Japanese embassy, "gravely regrettable."

Ambassador Anami also asked the Chinese government to take all necessary measures to protect Japanese citizens in China, Ide said.

The Japanese spokesman said the Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister expressed regret on behalf of his government for the Saturday protest and said the Chinese government could not allow it to happen again.

The protests are targeted at Japan's bid to become a permanent U.N. Security Council member and have been made more emotional by Chinese objections to how Japanese school textbooks recount Japan's 20th century military campaigns.

The protesters in Beijing Saturday chanted anti-Japanese slogans, sang patriotic songs, waved Chinese flags and carried banners critical of Japan.

Some protesters threw rocks and plastic water bottles toward the embassy gate. The messages included a call for China to boycott Japanese products.

Hundreds of military police in riot gear lined up outside the embassy, while hundreds more police blocked nearby streets to keep the number of protesters down. Police moved in to end the protest after about an hour.

It was the biggest protest in the Chinese capital since 1999 when angry crowds demonstrated outside the U.S. Embassy after three Chinese were killed when the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, in what was then the Yugoslav capital, was accidentally bombed.

That came during the NATO air war against the Serb-led forces in the Serbian province of Kosovo, where Serbs and ethnic Albanians had been fighting.

CNN correspondent Tara Duffy contributed to this report

When the Chinese Communist Party decides things have gone far enough, the protests will stop...immediately.

Just because I don't like the Chinese Communist Party, doesn't mean I don't want China to grow wealthier. It also doesn't mean I approve of the way the Japanese have dealt or rather failed to deal with their horrific actions taken during World War II. Don't forget, the US prisoners-of-war were treated very badly by the Japanese, and the US has never gotten an apology from Japan, nor do they teach their children about their military's treatment of American prisoners-of-war.

When the Chinese Communist Party decides things have gone far enough, the protests will stop...immediately.
Again, please backup your claims with evidence, otherwise please make it clear that it's just your personal opinion/spectulation.

Just because I don't like the Chinese Communist Party, doesn't mean I don't want China to grow wealthier.
Are you even Chinese?

It also doesn't mean I approve of the way the Japanese have dealt or rather failed to deal with their horrific actions taken during World War II. Don't forget, the US prisoners-of-war were treated very badly by the Japanese, and the US has never gotten an apology from Japan, nor do they teach their children about their military's treatment of American prisoners-of-war.
Japan doesn't need to apologize to the U.S. because after WWII, U.S. pretty much controlled Japan. Heck, Americans dropped two bombs that killed hundreds of thosuands, if not millions of Japanese CIVILIANS, in other words, children, grandparents and women who were NOT holding weapons. If anything, U.S. needs to apologize to Japan.

Lol, a French stands with Chinese and a self-claimed Chinese stands with Japanese.
What are you talking about?

where did you get the idea that nick is chinese?

where did you get the idea that nick is chinese?
I didn't think he was. It was more of rhetorical question.

Anyone who compares modern China to Germany at the dawn of WWII is just showing up a big ignorance.

Here are some pictures of Anti-Japan protests in Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/9192/gm9gp.jpg

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/4608/gs2du.jpg

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/7650/gl2mw.jpg

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/948/go4mo.jpg

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/8158/g1c4dq.jpg

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/6294/g1r2es.jpg

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/998/gi8yj.jpg

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/2752/g1q9mb.jpg

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/7044/g1o9lt.jpg

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/4445/gh6xd.jpg

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/217/gt6il.jpg

http://img220.echo.cx/img220/4373/g1p5tf.jpg

When the Chinese Communist Party decides things have gone far enough, the protests will stop...immediately.

Just because I don't like the Chinese Communist Party, doesn't mean I don't want China to grow wealthier. It also doesn't mean I approve of the way the Japanese have dealt or rather failed to deal with their horrific actions taken during World War II. Don't forget, the US prisoners-of-war were treated very badly by the Japanese, and the US has never gotten an apology from Japan, nor do they teach their children about their military's treatment of American prisoners-of-war.

Sir, you must be too old to remember everything properly, I can give a hint.
It's not the matter of your political abhorrence, your ignorance has already spoken enough for yourself.
I don't doubt that you have good wishes for the Chinese and their country, but what you need to do first, to show your friendliness, is getting things straight. I can remind you of some superb and serious words from the friendly and righteous you:

1. Posted an article from an Atlanta Journal, telling a story of a miserable FLG couple, talking about the oppression over FLG practitioners from the CCP in mainland China, human rights, commies, freedom, blablabla;
2. talked about the CCP locking up christians in Chinese cities, human rights, commies, freedom, blablabla;
3. hold on... I'll continue whenever I get time...
No sir, we don't want such friendliness, don't tell me you got married before you knew your wife well(well, marriage is another story)...

The Chinese government in fact tries to cool down the sentiment of chinese people against japan. None of the official press reports the recent anti japanese incidence and discussion on the internet is more less banned on the anti japanese topic.

Germany admits its mistakes from the past and now the rest of Europe forgives (but not forgets). If Japan could do the same then maybe China and Japan could move forward together. Having said that no country is guiltless and Chinese must remember that there are also many things that their own government doesn't print about its past. Isn't China the country that once asked its citizens to burn books?

I am trying to be objective and am neither Japanese nor Chinese (although my girlfriend is Chinese and she feels very strongly about this issue). I'd like to also add that I've seen many of the disturbing (understatement) war photographs which made me feel sick to the stomach. I'd also like to mention the way that Japanese soldiers treated British prisoners of war during the second world war was the worst in the history of this country.

I hope that one day both countries can begin to move forward. I know this will not happen in our lifetimes. I'd also like to note that I hope the Chinese protests are against the Japanese government and not the Japanese people.

My last note is that I know this topic is really none of my business and that I should stay out of it (I will stay out of it from now on) but it is a very heated debate and maybe the fact that I have little conection with it allows me to be objective.

The Chinese government in fact tries to cool down the sentiment of chinese people against japan. None of the official press reports the recent anti japanese incidence and discussion on the internet is more less banned on the anti japanese topic.

Yep, it is the time to cooling down from officially

Japan calls for calm dialogue with China after anti-Japanese protest


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Japan called for dialogue with China to ensure relations with its key economic partner do not deteriorate further after violent anti-Japanese protests in Beijing at the weekend.

Japan on Sunday summoned the Chinese ambassador and demanded compensation and an apology over a demonstration in Beijing where the Japanese embassy was pelted with bottles and cans and a Japanese restaurant was attacked.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda, the Japanese government spokesman, said it was time for the two countries to seek calm.

"We have to work hard to prevent mutual misunderstanding from growing," Hosoda told reporters when asked about China's link to the Japanese economy.

"Right now we are exchanging our views through diplomatic channels," he said. "We would like to monitor developments."

Hosoda declined to react to a Chinese foreign ministry statement late Sunday that said the slide in bilateral relations "does not lie with the Chinese side."

"If I said at this moment that this is terrible and condemned it, it would not make things any better," Hosoda said.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi would meet Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura later ahead of the minister's expected meeting in Beijing Sunday with his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing, Jiji Press said.

The liberal Asahi Shimbun said in an editorial that the state of bilateral relations was "the worst since Japan normalized relations with China in 1972."

Another liberal daily, the Mainichi, said "it is unreasonable to boycott Japanese products" as they are built by Chinese laborers.

"China needs active investment from Japan, particularly new technologies that prevent environmental destruction, to maintain its high growth," it said.

"It is a matter of course that the Japanese must not forget about the historical background behind the Chinese antagonism, but we want the Chinese people to understand irrational anti-Japan rallies would also hurt their national interest," it said.

The conservative Yomiuri Shimbun doubted the Chinese police did much to stop the demonstration, which "could never be tolerated in a law-governed state."

It urged Japanese businesspeople not to be intimidated by China.

"If they butter up the Chinese aide for the sake of their business profits, it would damage long-term national interest (of Japan)," it said in an editorial.

China harbors deep bitterness over Japan's bloody occupation which ended in 1945. But at the same time, trade has been shooting up, with China last year replacing the United States for the first time as Japan's biggest trading partner.

Lol, a French stands with Chinese and a self-claimed Chinese stands with Japanese.
Well, he's been sidelining wwII events that still make europeans shiver (remember the neonazis and far right are slowly rising alongside public discontent here) with relatively small demonstrations in China, so it's easy to invalidate...

However I read on french, english or german websites the same analysis : people are unusualy free to demonstrate and gather. :weird:

here is what I found on a bbc site:

The "Strong Nation Forum" bulletin board on the People's Daily website carries strong comment on the issue.
Kick the ass of whoever says Japan is good (People's Daily bulletin board)
One post says "we must kill until little Japan will not dare to look the Chinese people in the eyes for 100 years."
Another threatens, "if China demolishes the United States and Japan with nuclear warheads, the world will be peaceful thereafter."

It is the first time that I see something told in China that would be immediately censored in my country, France. In such a case, the editor of the website could be sent to prison for "invitation to xenophobia". But on this chinese national medium, no problem!!!?? :weirdo:

Usually ccp controls tightly everything on the web, so how is this possible? When you see images of the police you think "How could they let people break windows and attak an ambassy?"
The demonstations are small in comparison with what happened in France in 2002 (1,000,000 students in Paris after Le Pen, a dangerous far rigth nationalist got to the second row of elections) so if they get out of control, it is on purpose.

the question raised by the french media is the following : The ccp is very tolerant because it helps pressurise japan on many sensitive issues. But how will it react if it slips out of control, and finds itself in the situation of a follower? :guns1:

Koizumi says China responsible for safety of Japanese

http://sg.yimg.com/xp/afp/20050411/3592676915.jpg


Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told Beijing to prevent further anti-Japanese violence in China, as riot police guarded Japanese interests in the Chinese capital that were vandalized by angry mobs over the weekend.

Amid worsening relations between the two nations, Koizumi called for dialogue, urging President Hu Jintao to meet him on the sidelines of a summit in Indonesia later this month and dispatching his foreign minister to Beijing.

"It is extremely regrettable," Koizumi told reporters in his first reaction to the protests which damaged the Japanese embassy in Beijing.

"This kind of thing should not happen. I wish the Chinese side would do its utmost to prevent a recurrence of such a thing," he said.

"The Chinese side is responsible for the safety of Japanese people who are active in China. I indeed want the Chinese side to bear it in mind," he said.

Thousands of people took part Saturday in the biggest demonstration in years in Beijing, pelting the Japanese embassy with bottles and cans, verbally abusing workers at a Japanese restaurant and urging a boycott of Japanese goods.

The protests evolved from a relatively limited demonstration among students in Beijing against Tokyo's decision to allow a school textbook allegedly whitewashing World War II-era Japanese crimes in Asia.

However, they soon developed into mass protests with the participation of an estimated 10,000 people representing not just the capital's student population but broad segments of the city.

Japan has been unusually strident in its responses to Chinese criticism. When China summoned Japan's ambassador Tuesday to protest the textbook, the envoy replied that Beijing should also contain anti-Japanese sentiment.

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura summoned the Chinese envoy in Tokyo on Sunday, a week before Japan's top diplomat is to make his own mission to Beijing.

In Beijing, members of the paramilitary People's Armed Police wearing helmets were positioned Monday in front of the embassy and the ambassador's residence, which had also been targeted by angry mobs.

"We don't bring our police force, we've repeatedly asked the Chinese to protect us," said Ide Keiji, a spokesman of the Japanese embassy in Beijing.

Expressing anti-Japanese sentiment is one of the most popular causes in modern China, a fact highlighted in a survey of 1,000 adults in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and six other cities published Monday.

The poll by the Social Survey Institute of China showed 93 percent of respondents agreed the Japanese government was "seriously distorting" history in the textbooks.

However, the two nations have also become increasingly linked economically. China last year replaced the United States for the first time as Japan's biggest trading partner.

Japanese companies have been drawn to China for its pool of cheap labor and growing middle-class market.

The number of Japanese in China jumped by more than 28 percent in 2004 with 7,600 Japanese living in Beijing alone, according to the foreign ministry.

"There may be a temporary impact on Japanese companies but I think the situation will calm down with the passage of time," said Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of Japan's biggest corporation Toyota Motor and president of the Japan Business Federation.

Observers were also left to wonder at the shift in Beijing's attitude towards mass protests.

"In the past decades or so, the government always made efforts to stop or cool down such activities," said Joseph Cheng, a China watcher at City University of Hong Kong.

"Now you don't see such efforts being made. You see more tolerance," he said.

Japan looks warily at Chinese anger boiling across the sea

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As Chinese streets erupt in anger at Japan, ordinary people in Tokyo are watching the rise of China warily, even if many of them understand lingering resentment over the past.

Beijing's biggest demonstrations in years used Internet bulletin boards to bring thousands to the Haidian district, whose hi-tech industry is part of the pride of the growing China.

In Tokyo's IT quarter, Akihabara, there is little sign of public agitation against China, with many shops promoting their wares in Chinese for tourists. But that does not mean there are no worries.

Katsuhiro Suzuki, 43, who works for a trading company which seeks business with China, believes the anti-Japanese protests were "deliberately agitated" by the government. But, like many others interviewed around Tokyo, he believes Japan is partly to blame.

"Japan has been ambiguous about its past and now Japan has to pay the price," Suzuki said.

"China will certainly be an economic threat," he said. "It is a natural consequence in the capitalist world."

But Seiichi Yokokawa, 50, an employee of an IT-related company, believes that Chinese corporations are behind the protests.

"China wants to beat Japan. That's why they are bashing Japan," Yokokawa said.

China harbors deep bitterness at the atrocities committed by Japanese troops during the occupation, which ended in 1945, including the notorious massacre of the Chinese city of Nanjing in 1937.

Japanese leaders have apologized for the past but frequent reminders of the militarism have infuriated Asian neighbors.

Japan's education ministry last week approved a nationalist history textbook that China and South Korea say whitewashes Tokyo's past crimes.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has repeatedly visited the Yasukuni shrine, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead including convicted war criminals.

The perception that Japan has not said sorry also exists among some Japanese.

In the high-end Ginza district, Kazuho Wakiguchi, 26, an employee of an advertising agency, said he found the protests in China "understandable."

"They happened as a result of what our country did to China in the past," he said. "It is not a right thing but Japan, after all, has not apologized for its aggression."

But elsewhere in Ginza, a 37-year-old employee said the past was no excuse.

"It is one thing that Japan is to be blamed for its past and Yasukuni, but it is another to tolerate Japan-bashing movements in China," he said.

A government survey in December showed that anti-Japanese sentiment had risen sharply in Japan, in line with a deterioration of ties.

The poll by the Cabinet Office found that some 58 percent of Japanese viewed China unfavorably, up 10.2 percentage points from a year earlier.

The number of people who had a favorable view of China fell 10.3 percentage points to 38 percent, the lowest since 1978.

A separate poll taken in 2002 by the foreign ministry showed Japanese opinion was evenly split on what caused the anger in China.

Forty-four percent of respondents believed the problems between Japan and China were over history, with 48 percent saying the obstacle was economic.

Last year, China surpassed the United States as Japan's top trading partner, as companies are pulled to the cheap labor and growing market of the world's most populous country.

Ikue Endo, a bookstore employee, 24, said the rise of China could balance out the influence of the United States.

China's rise "is a good thing because America is too strong now and it's good that there is a country which can compete against the US," Endo said.

有些日本人还是不错的，可是，哎。。。

有些日本人还是不错的，可是，哎。。。
當然，每種人都有好，有壞。可惜的是，好的日本人不怎麼多。

引用舊帖子
舒暢一下個人感想

凡事以平常心看待
明天会更好

在我所結交和認識下的日本朋友
好的,善良的也不少哦

老生常談
還是這一句

歷史歸歷史
眼光住前看
尢其年青一代
沒有歷史包服和悲情
更應跳離不必要心結

套古龍的名言
沒有永遠朋友和敵人

仇恨只是被利用工具吧了
讓亚太地區的国家和人民

大团結才是光明正道
:)

Thousands protest against Japan as China says relations at 'crossroads'
Saturday April 16, 3:46 PM


Thousands of people have staged violent anti-Japanese rallies across China in a second weekend of protests as Beijing said relations with its neighbour were at a "crossroads".

Onlookers estimated up to 10,000 people marched along Yanan Road in Shanghai towards the Japanese consulate while several thousand rallied in the eastern city of Hangzhou and similar numbers in Tianjin, southeast of Beijing.

At the consulate in Shanghai, riot police three-deep linked arms to prevent the rowdy crowd from entering the compound as they pelted it with rocks, bottles and paint, smashing windows.

Elsewhere in the city Japanese restaurants, businesses and cars were attacked with rocks and eggs. One restaurant was completely destroyed.

More protests, sparked by the Japanese government's approval of revamped history textbooks which Beijing felt made light of the nation's atrocities in World War II, are expected around China Sunday.

However, a rally scheduled for the capital Beijing, where police were out in force, failed to materialise following a warning against any protests by the Public Security Bureau.

Japan demanded China rein in the violent protesters, warning it was hurting Beijing's reputation.

"The embassy has called the Chinese authorities to take necessary measures to stop the illegal and violent actions staged by the Chinese mobs," Keiji Ide, spokesman for the Japanese embassy in Beijing, told AFP.

"I'm very much afraid that such a situation will damage the image of China abroad."

The rallies in Shanghai began at three separate venues -- the Bund, People's Square and Shanghai Museum -- before the demonstrators shouting "Down with Japan" and "Boycott Japanese Goods" converged to march to the consulate.

There was a heavy police presence along the route and at the consulate but they did not intervene, AFP reporters said.

"I'm here for the love of my country and I think by opposing Japan I can show this. Japan has never apologised sincerely for their mistakes," said a graduate student surnamed Su.

On the Bund, students wearing T-shirts yelled: "You can forgive history but you cannot distort history".

Another banner read: "Give back the Diaoyu islands", referring to a disputed island chain claimed by both Japan and China in the East China Sea.

One protestor carried a sign showing Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi with his head in a toilet, reading: "Japan. Apologise to the Chinese people."

China's anti-Japanese websites and Internet forums had called for a second wave of rallies following violent protests by tens of thousands last weekend in Beijing, and the southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Both Japan and the United States issued urgent alerts for their citizens to be careful.

Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, a former foreign minister, said Japanese leaders' visits to the Yasukuni shrine honouring war dead including convicted war criminals were at the heart of the problems.

In a meeting with with Toyohiko Yamanouchi, president of Japan's Kyodo News Agency, he described relations as "at the crossroads", the Xinhua news agency reported.

In addition, territorial disputes and national sentiment were getting worse, he said.

Japan Wednesday said it would let its companies drill for oil and gas in the disputed East China Sea. Beijing, which began drilling in 2003, called the move a "provocation".

"All these issues bring obstructions and restrictions to the deepening of bilateral cooperation, and have the possibility of deteriorating the China-Japan relations," said Tang.

However, he dismissed suggestions that anti-Japanese rallies were backed by the Chinese government and resulted from "anti-Japanese education" in China.

"I have to point out here that such allegations are totally groundless and a serious distortion of truth," he said.

In a bid to salvage ties, Japan's Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura is scheduled to arrive in Beijing Sunday for meetings with China's top leaders.

I'd also like to note that I hope the Chinese protests are against the Japanese government and not the Japanese people.
well said. applause:applause:

大陸駐日大使館　遭人噴紅漆報復
【TVBS新聞 】

面對大陸民眾一波波的抗議浪潮，日本也開始出現不滿的聲浪，中國大陸在東京的駐日使館，昨天晚上就遭到不明人士在大門口噴紅漆。日本政府目前審慎應對，除了派出外相町村信孝和大陸外長李肇星展開會談，希望滅火之外，也要求北京當局應該約束民眾的暴力行為。

就在這一波反日抗議中，中國大陸在東京的駐日大使館，星期五晚間遭到不明人士噴漆抗議，從門牌到對講機無一倖免，全都被噴上鮮紅色的油漆，顯示日本社會對中國大陸這一波反日風潮，相當強烈的不滿。

今天上海的日本領事館受到群眾攻擊，部份玻璃被打破，還有不少日本商店和車輛，也被遊行群眾用石塊攻擊。

日本政府要求北京當局，必須採取必要的措施，防止這些暴民非法和暴力的行為。

日本外相町村信孝，17號將飛往北京和大陸外長李肇星討論，如何平息這一場紛爭。日本外相町村信孝：「這樣對兩國關係是有害的，希望中國大陸方面，可以理解認知。」

這場新的中日大戰，延燒到網路上。日本的官方網站，不斷遭到大陸駭客入侵，就連日本私人企業學校網頁，也成為大陸駭客的新目標，寫上「我們可以忘記過去，我們不能抹滅歷史」的中文字，這波反日浪潮，也大大影響到日本民眾到大陸旅遊的意願，紛紛取消行程，日本政府也提醒在大陸的僑民，注意自己的安全。

聯合晚報 (2005-04-16)

（香港訊）中國多個城市今早爆發新一波反日浪潮，上海、杭州及天津都有人舉行反日游行。新華社報道，上海的游行人數數以萬計。

　　部分示威者向日本駐上海領使館投擲雞蛋及塑料瓶。公安及警車就不斷發出廣播，呼吁示威者要冷靜，指明白他們為了國家利益而采取行動，但勸喻他們要盡量保持克制及冷靜。

　　示威由大學生發起，今早8時許從黃埔公園游行至人民廣場，匯合在該處的另一批示威者，向虹橋區的日本駐上海總領使館進發。

　　大學生表示他們是自發參加游行，要求日本認清歷史，及反對日本尋求成為聯合國安理會常任理事國。

　　部分示威者穿上反日T恤，朝日本駐上海總領事館方向游行，他們高舉五星紅旗和寫著“保衛釣魚台”及“抵制日貨”等標語的橫幅，高叫“打倒日本人”等反日口號，情緒相當激昂。沿途不斷有民眾加入。

　　2萬警力布防

　　日本駐上海總領事館昨午與上海市外辦交涉，對可能發生的示威表示憂慮，上海則稱有能力保証日本人的安全，據悉，上海已調動2萬警力布防。

　　杭州千人反日游行

　　杭州今早也有反日游行。大批公安加強戒備，但沒有干預。

　　約300名示威者于早上8時許開始在黃龍體育中心外聚集，而且人數很快增加至過千人。游行于早上9時許開始，示威者手持五星紅旗，拉起反日標語，并向途人派發傳單，呼吁他們抵制日貨。

　　天津也約300人舉行反日示威。示威人士唱國歌，高喊抵制日貨和保衛釣魚島等口號。

北京嚴防騷亂

　　（北京訊）各地醞釀新一輪民間反日行動之際，北京嚴陣以待張，在日本大使館、天安門廣場等敏感地區布防，防止反日游行演變為損害政治和社會穩定的行為。

　　消息透露，有人以短訊和互聯網號召民眾今早分別到西單一家商場和天安門廣場聚集，舉行反日示威。據了解，有關游行活動已被北京市公安局明言禁止。

　　多個可能舉行反日示威集會的地點以強戒備，公安表示會強行驅散未經申請的集會及示威活動。

　　在東城區亮馬河的日本駐華使館官邸附近的路再次封閉，當局部署了几百名防暴警察，使館區一帶街道停泊了多部警車。在天安門廣場，數百名公安在場戒備，他們查問民眾及抽查手提袋。當局調動車輛，將人民英雄紀念碑圍著，而進入廣場的人都要被搜身，但未見有示威群眾聚集。

官方勸吁學生勿參加反日游行

　　針對20個城市今明發起第二輪反日大游行的傳聞，中國官方昨天通過多種管道煞車降溫。學校和政府機關緊急召開會議，要求學生和公務員不要參加游行示威。京滬兩地公安稱未接到有關游行申請，并在日本使領館周邊加強保安。連日來傳遞反日游行信息的多個網站，也出現反對網民上街的文章。

　　北京市公安局新聞發言人指出，希望廣大群眾和青年學生不要參加未經批准的游行活動。未依法申請或者申請未獲許可的均視為違法行為，將追究法律責任。要相信政府能夠處理好中日關系。

　　北京警方還向日本大使館通報，公安已經拘捕了7名在上周六示威活動中有違法行為的人。

　　在上海，市公安局新聞發言人在電視台發表講話，稱警方尚未受理、批准過任何示威游行申請。希望廣大市民不做違法的事。

中國再爆抗日怒潮 上海一家日本擬被搗毀

http://www.cna.tv/imagegallery/store/phpxlpLKh.jpg

[亞洲新聞网] 上海消息，中國多個城市今天繼續在抗日怒潮中爆發示威游行，其中上海一家日本擬被一些抗議者搗毀，一些汽車被砸壞。

今天早上開始，成千上萬的上海抗議者繼上周北京、廣州和深圳的抗議之後，再度爆發反日抗議游行。上萬名游行者從上海的雲南路出發前往日本駐上海領事館抗議。同時，杭州和天津也爆發了反日示威游行。


在日本駐上海領事館，鎮暴警察排成三層的防護帶，並手挽手阻擋抗議者靠近領事館。抗議者投擲石塊、油漆和瓶子，擊碎領事館的玻璃窗。

同時，上海的日本擬]、商家和日本牌子的汽車也遭到石塊和雞蛋的襲擊。其中一家日本擬被完全摧毀。

示威者抗議日本批准的教科書美化侵略戰爭，也要求組織日本成為安理會常任理事國。

不過，計劃在北京舉行的示威游行，在北京安全部門的警告下未能發生。

日本對此要求北京控制抗議者的暴力行為，並警告這會上海北京的聲譽。

“大使館已經要求北京當局採取必要的措施，阻止非法行為暴力行為，”法新社引述日本駐華大使館發言人說。

“我們非常擔心這樣的局勢會損害北京在國外的形象。”

上海的抗議者是在三個不同地點開始聚集──外灘、人民廣場和上海博物館。抗議者高呼“打倒日本”和“抵制日貨”等口號，前往日本領事館。

在游行的沿途和日本領事館，警方重兵把守，但是沒有幹預示威者，法新社記者目擊說。

在外灘，一些學生穿著的T恤上寫著：“你可以忘記歷史，但不能歪曲歷史。”另外的標語寫著：“收回釣魚島”

一名抗議者舉著日本首相小泉純一郎的畫像，小泉的頭被畫上一個馬桶，上面寫著：“日本，向中國人民道歉。”

在上海的一家日本曙U，抗議者下午對其發洩憤怒，所有的窗戶被砸碎，一些人破門而入，兩層樓的擬]被洗劫一空。這家擬]位于上海市中心，事發時並沒有開門營業。

抗議者也破壞了商店的標記、屏幕和外面的木板，大約1000名圍觀者圍觀，並大聲叫好、鼓掌和吹口哨。

有一名警員在現場，他說：“好了好了，可以了。”但沒有阻止人群。過後來了5-6個經常，隔離了現場。

附近的店主說，商店今天是故意關門的，以避免麻煩發生。店主知道游行者的路線會經過他的曙U。

此外，另外還有至少3家日本擬]和商店成為抗議者的目標，抗議者投擲了雞蛋。

同時，一輛日本本田汽車也被破壞，當時駕車者還在車內。汽車外殼被砸凹，車玻璃被砸碎。

一輛銀色的尼桑汽車被掀翻，玻璃被打碎，法新社記者目擊說。

與此同時，天津也有約二千人舉行反日示威。杭州有三千人參加反日游行。

但在北京，一些人在互聯網呼籲前往天安門廣場集合游行的計劃並沒有實現。約400名武警在天安門廣場警戒，盤問進入廣場人們的身份。

約200名武警守衛在日本駐華大使館周圍，以防止上周末使館窗戶被咂碎的暴力事件。

有報道說上周末在北京在組織反日示威的的人士已經被警方拘押或者軟禁。[據法新社等]

日駐上海使館 遭破壞後滿目瘡痍
2005-04-17 22:22／卓凝香

http://news.pchome.com.tw/pictures/tvbs/20050417/blue-20050417222139.JPG

昨天日本駐上海的領事館在遊行示威民眾的攻擊下，幾乎是滿目瘡痍，被嚇得心有餘悸的上海日僑，現在全都低調行事，上海著名的日本街，現在到處都掛起大陸的國旗，還有人乾脆把招牌上的日文字，全部用紙遮了起來，只希望麻煩不要再上門來。

經過整整一天之後，遭到攻擊的日本駐上海領事館，公開讓媒體拍攝，只看到滿地都是保特瓶、石塊，甚至連椅子都被當成攻擊的工具，牆壁上則是滿布著油漆，窗戶玻璃沒有一扇是完整的。

NHK記者：「這一間店為了不要太顯眼，就像大家看到，是關掉一部份照明，才開始營業。」

店面掛大陸國旗，日人低調求和平，在上海的日本僑民，早已經有如驚弓之鳥，看看上海著名的日本街，大部分的招牌或是大門，全都在暴民的破壞下滿目瘡痍，不少人趕緊去買大陸國旗，掛在店門口防止麻煩上門。日本食品行副社長酒向優子：「一大清早就趕快叫人，去買中國大陸的國旗回來，掛在大門口前面。」

還有人乾脆把招牌上的日本字，全部遮起來，雖然這樣只是欲蓋彌彰，但是還是希望求個心安。上海日本僑民：「希望這樣就不會看起來，馬上就知道是日本料理店，也不知道效果好不好。」

儘管日本整府已經向中國大陸，發出強烈的抗議，但是看看這些遭到暴民破壞的結果，不免讓日本跟中國大陸的民間交流，蒙上一層陰影。

新聞來源：TVBS

I think young people in China are bored wit their life and doing this as to entertain themself. Just have a look at many smiling faces in the pictures! Even north korean style country like China, peole do have their own thought regarding to their government yet they are not allowed to express it in this nation. This dissatisfaction are twisted and turns out to be expressed as this way. No japanese truly believe that the cause of this demo is the textbook issue. It is a China's political and economic issue that are the real cause.

Violence Erupts at Anti-Japan Demonstration in Shanghai

BEIJING, April 18 Asia Pulse - A large-scale anti-Japan demonstration in this Chinese city became violent Saturday, with some participants throwing stones at the Japanese consulate.

The demonstrators, who were estimated at about 50,000 as of 2:00 p.m., hurled pavement slabs at Japan's consular building, chanting slogans against the nation's attempt to gloss over its past war atrocities.

The consulate building's windows were broken and stained with paint.

They previously threw water bottles or eggs at Japanese restaurants or bars in downtown Shanghai, where protestors began marching at 9:00 a.m. before reaching the consulate at 10:50 a.m..

The number of demonstrators and degree of violence swelled as the hours passed, with an angry mob mood descending five hours after the demonstration kicked off.

For the most part, the Chinese police, who guarded the consulate, looked on without intervening, which could flare up later as a diplomatic sticking point between Japan and China.

It is the first time that such a large rally has erupted in Shanghai since the Cultural Revolution in 1960-1970, a ten-year political campaign and social experiment aimed at rekindling revolutionary fervor and purifying the party.

Shanghai, the economic center of China, remained untouched by large rallies in 1989 when the famous Tiananmen Square massacre occurred after a demonstration for democracy in Beijing.

Meanwhile, in other cities around China on Saturday demonstrators carried out their rallies peacefully.

Hangzhou, located just south of Shanghai, saw about 10,000 citizens chant anti-Japan slogans and call for boycotting Japanese products in the city's downtown plaza.

In Tianjin, near Beijing, groups numbering around one thousand in size congregated at various municipal sites to voice their dissatisfaction with Japan's actions.

In Guangzhou, a small group of 100 were dispersed by police after trying to muster a demonstration in the morning.

Beijing ordered on Friday that organizers of the rallies first seek a permit from the authorities, stayed free of trouble with police on hand to ensure no rallies broke out at Tiananmen Square.

The Foreign Ministry of China called for protesters to show restraint and avoid violence ahead of the scheduled visit of Japan's Foreign Minister on Sunday.

Xinhua News Agency, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese government, only reported the demonstration in English, while the domestic press uniformly avoided reporting coverage of the unrest.

The Chinese protesters criticize new history books approved recently by the Japanese Education Ministry since they omit references to Japan's war atrocities, including the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, in which historians say 300,000 Chinese civilians were killed by Japanese troops.

The recent anti-Japan sentiment and demonstrations in China first erupted in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, on April 2 and spread to Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing on April 9 before reaching Shanghai.

Another demonstration is expected to occur on May 4, the commemorative day of an historic anti-Japanese movement.

(Yonhap)

No textbook on the face of the earth are as twisted as Chinese history textbook. There is no reference to Tiananmen Square incidece, the failure of the cultural revolution etc etc.... Basicly you can not find any information opposed to CCP but bad thing about Japan. Obviously you can not find the any referance to Japan as a largest ODA contributor for China or any good thing that Japan did for China(I wounder how many Chinease are awear of this fact, provably none). And now young chinese are manipulated and mad at Japanese government for not teaching the right history according to the chinese perspective to Japanese kids? You must be kidding. :bash:

what is japanese perspective history?

No textbook on the face of the earth are as twisted as Chinese history textbook. There is no reference to Tiananmen Square incidece, the failure of the cultural revolution etc etc.... Basicly you can not find any information opposed to CCP but bad thing about Japan.:
Chinese internal history was written by Chinese themselves. None of other countries is entitled to say our history twisted. As for thing happened in Tiananmen square , Chinese people in future will give fair evaluation, and pls keep in mind that this period of history isn't written in history yet. Any western media can not be confident in whether their own reports have biase. Let Chinese people write our own history happened within internal affairs.
As you mentioned Cultural revolution, the leaders, Jiangqing, wanghongwen,zhangchunqiao,... who organized and got involving in mob has been put in prison and still in prison today.While all other victims have been giving material or spiritual compensation by new government. Dengxiaoping was one victim in Cultural revolution too, and later on he became leader of new government and corrected the historical mistake in time. None of Chinese would beautify the history in cultural revolution. Maozedong's achievement in his whole life therefore was dotted with negative views as well. so what you said is wrong. But what matters the tragedy Japan did to China?We don't forgive either.

both ODA and Nanking massacre are true. We all know ODA and also we all know that China has waived war compensation much more than ODA

Of course , I disagree with some people beating Japanese or destroying Japanese restaurant, peaceful demonstration sometimes exerts more fair political influence on this. But I believe Japanese are blinded by your government as well. Some Japanese students I met in our university seldom knew this part of history of how Japan did to Chinese in WW2. And for many years before Chinese demonstration, Japanese right wing never stops frightening anyone , any media who published report about this tragedy.Also Japanese right wing attacked Chinese embassay using a truck before . Iris Chang who wrote Nanking massacre commited suicide just because she lived in nightmare everyday and was deeply distressed in These right wing's harm. BBC also received warning from right wing just because BBC published a report about the war. How did Japanese response? Never. So Chinese demonstration is understandable.

Monday April 18, 3:10 PM

Indonesia urges Japan to "face the facts of history" in its dispute with China

Indonesia on Monday sided with China in its escalating dispute with Japan, urging Tokyo to face up to its wartime aggression in East Asia to ease the tensions.

"We are not disinterested in seeing relations between the two most important nations in East Asia spiraling downward," Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said, noting that Indonesia enjoyed "fantastic" ties with both countries.

He said the dispute was over Japan's brutal record during World War Il and that every country, including Japan, must "face the facts of history."

He said it was possible that Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi would meet on the sidelines of a summit of Asian and African leaders in Jakarta this weekend.

"There is no stumbling block for the two to meet directly," Natalegawa told reporters.

Japan's relations with China have hit their lowest point in decades amid recent violent rallies across the mainland fueled by anger over Japan's wartime aggression and anxieties about Tokyo's military and diplomatic ambitions. Some Chinese believe Japan has never fully shown remorse for offenses committed during its invasion of China in the first half of the 20th century. ADVERTISEMENT



"Obviously, the recent controversy (with China) has been over Japan's activities during World War II," Natalegawa said. "Each of us has to have the courage to face certain historical facts."

Indonesians have been angered by suggestions from some Japanese historians that the 1942 occupation of the Dutch East Indies _ as Indonesia was then known _ had been welcomed by the local population.

They say that hundreds of thousands of Indonesians were forced to work for the Japanese military as slave laborers, while many women ended up as sex slaves in wartime brothels.

"We feel as Indonesians that all countries _ including Japan _ have to face the facts of history."

1. it's developed country's obligation to send aid money to developing countries, japan does not send the money to china because it feels guilty, but because it's a developed country and china is a developing country, and with china's economy growth japan will stop its aid to china (so will UN by the way), and we dont have any problems with that.

2. We have given up the right to claim any war-time compensations from Japan, to shwo goodwill, we are still not claiming it now. We are simply asking for an apology from your prime minister ON BEHALF OF THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT, and to demand that Japan does not distort war time history anymore. No economic compensation can ever heal the wounds of chinese people, therefore no one is demanding any kind of compensation an apology is all we want. (and frankly i dont think we will ever get it in our life time, maybe after next war)

Japan has helped China a lot when we just started economic reforms, and Japanese business people were the first to set up factories in china when western investors were still not confident about China. but we could not just simply ignore the fact that japanre right wing is trying its best to brainwash the country's youth and create hostility between two countries.

Who've got a similar discussion here (source = The Guardian, so you know where it is from).


Jon Henley in Paris
Friday April 15, 2005

Guardian

More than 1,000 historians, writers and intellectuals have signed a petition demanding the repeal of a new law requiring school history teachers to stress the "positive aspects" of French colonialism.

"In retaining only the positive aspects of colonialism this law imposes an official lie on massacres that at times went as far as genocide on the slave trade, and on the racism that France has inherited," says the petition, which has also been signed by one of France's best-loved humourists, Guy Bedos, and a leading film director, Patrice Chéreau.

The law of February 23 2005, as it is known, was intended to recognise the contribution of the "harkis", the 200,000 or so Algerians who fought alongside France's colonial troops in their country's war of independence, from 1954-62, before being abandoned to a dreadful fate when the French withdrew - about 130,000 were executed as traitors.

But an unnoticed amendment, apparently tabled by MPs with close ties to France's community of former Algerian settlers, added a new clause to the bill. It reads: "School courses should recognise in particular the positive role of the French presence overseas, notably in north Africa." Opponents are angry in part because, in the words of one eminent historian, Pierre Vidal-Naquet: "It is not up to the state to say how history should be taught."

Mr Vidal-Naquet told Liberation: "In Japan, a law defines the contents of history lessons, and textbooks minimise Japan's responsibility in the Sino-Japanese war. If France wants to be like that, it's going the right way about it."

Other leading historians said the need for such a law might be understandable in Germany but not in France. "It is imposing an official version of history, in defiance of educational neutrality," said one professor, Gerard Noiriel. "I cannot accept the authorities dictating to teachers the contents of their lessons."

But the principal objection to the law is simply that, like most forms of colonialism, the French empire caused great suffering. The anti-racist group MRAP said the law was "an insult to intelligence, a denial of democracy, a rejection of historical reality and a brake on academic freedom". Above all, it showed "contempt for the victims".

Laws governing how certain periods of history should be taught in French schools have been passed before: a 1990 law outlaws denial of the Holocaust, and a 2001 law dictates that the slave trade be described as a crime against humanity. But those episodes are unambiguous.

"The reality of the Holocaust and slave trade is self evident," said Thierry Le Bars, a law professor at Caen University, who has also signed the petition.

"It is by no means self evident that France's colonialism was positive. Think of the ignoble legal status of the Muslims in Algeria, of the massacre of up to 5,000 Algerians in Setif in 1945, of all the unfortunates who endured the hell of slavery to assure the prosperity of Caribbean islands."

The first of France's two empires began in the early 1600s in what are now Nova Scotia and Quebec. Louisiana had been added by the end of the century, as had Caribbean territories including French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint-Domingue (now Haiti).

At the same time France got a foothold in west Africa (Senegal), and in India. Most of that empire was lost by 1815, but a second began in 1830 with the invasion of Algeria. Southern Vietnam and Cambodia followed, then, after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, the rest of French Indochina, Tunisia and Morocco, and almost all of western and central Africa.

Mr Noiriel said the law was "all the more dangerous" because of attempts by certain interest groups to "confiscate history for their own ends".

He added: "It can only contribute to a feeling of humiliation. It is directly opposed to the policy of integration the government claims to be implementing.

>>LDN_EUROPE "Germany admits its mistakes from the past and now the rest of Europe forgives (but not forgets). If Japan could do the same then maybe China and Japan could move forward together."

Japan lives in a more contentious neighborhood than Germany. Our neighborhood governments kill its own citizen and still remain in the power. They develop nuclear weapon that targetting Japan. We should not apoloize to whom we can not trust.

Absolute Chinese barbarism. The real issue is not the textbooks, there are other hidden motives and the protests are tacitly encouraged by the Chinese government to stir up nationalism and defect attention away from their own problems.

>>LDN_EUROPE "Germany admits its mistakes from the past and now the rest of Europe forgives (but not forgets). If Japan could do the same then maybe China and Japan could move forward together."

Japan lives in a more contentious neighborhood than Germany. Our neighborhood governments kill its own citizen and still remain in the power. They develop nuclear weapon that targetting Japan. We should not apoloize to whom we can not trust.
You don't trust Chinese government or Chinese people? You Japanese have done terrible things to Chinese people and killed thousands of innocent Chinese people.You Japanese tried to escape responsibility with the exuse of how Chinese government did to Chinese. But pls study a little bit Chinese history before saying that .Chinese people in Dayaojing died of drought, famine, repaying debt to Russia rather than being executed by chinese government on purpose. Either for the history of Dayuejing or Cultural revolution, neither Chinese nor Today's chinese government tries to justify this period of history. However, So-called demoncratic Japan never faces the war crime and on the countrary, desperately hides the atrocity. Japan doesn't deserve trust at all.

Nulear weapon isn't bad. You know, with it , Nanking massacre won't happen again and we will ask criminals pay back for all they 've done to us.

Absolute Chinese barbarism. The real issue is not the textbooks, there are other hidden motives and the protests are tacitly encouraged by the Chinese government to stir up nationalism and defect attention away from their own problems.

You just love to do " copy" and "paste" work from CNN where all articles were written by pro-Japan journalists.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/223038.stm
last Updated: Monday, 11 April, 2005, 10:23 GMT 11:23 UK
Scarred by history: The Rape of Nanjing
Between December 1937 and March 1938 one of the worst massacres in modern times took place. Japanese troops captured the Chinese city of Nanjing and embarked on a campaign of murder, rape and looting.


Thousands of bodies were buried in ditches

Based on estimates made by historians and charity organisations in the city at the time, between 250,000 and 300,000 people were killed, many of them women and children.

The number of women raped was said by Westerners who were there to be 20,000, and there were widespread accounts of civilians being hacked to death.

Yet many Japanese officials and historians deny there was a massacre on such a scale.

They admit that deaths and rapes did occur, but say they were on a much smaller scale than reported. And in any case, they argue, these things happen in times of war.

The Sino-Japanese Wars

In 1931, Japan invaded Chinese Manchuria following a bombing incident at a railway controlled by Japanese interests.

The Chinese troops were no match for their opponents and Japan ended up in control of great swathes of Chinese territory.

The following years saw Japan consolidate its hold, while China suffered civil war between communists and the nationalists of the Kuomintang. The latter were led by General Chiang Kai-shek, whose capital was at Nanjing.


Japanese troops enter the city in triumph

Many Japanese, particularly some elements of the army, wanted to increase their influence and in July 1937, a skirmish between Chinese and Japanese troops escalated into full-scale war.

The Japanese again had initial success, but then there was a period of successful Chinese defence before the Japanese broke through at Shanghai and swiftly moved on to Nanjing.

Chiang Kai-shek's troops had already left the city and the Japanese army occupied it without difficulty.

'One of the great atrocities of modern times'

At the time, the Japanese army did not have a reputation for brutality.

In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, the Japanese commanders had behaved with great courtesy towards their defeated opponents, but this was very different.

Japanese papers reported competitions among junior officers to kill the most Chinese.

There probably is no crime that has not been committed in this city today

Minnie Vautrin
US woman in Nanjing

One Japanese newspaper correspondent saw lines of Chinese being taken for execution on the banks of the Yangtze River, where he saw piles of burned corpses.

Photographs from the time, now part of an exhibition in the city, show Japanese soldiers standing, smiling, among heaps of dead bodies.

Tillman Durdin of the New York Times reported the early stages of the massacre before being forced to leave.

He later wrote: "I was 29 and it was my first big story for the New York Times. So I drove down to the waterfront in my car. And to get to the gate I had to just climb over masses of bodies accumulated there."

"The car just had to drive over these dead bodies. And the scene on the river front, as I waited for the launch... was of a group of smoking, chattering Japanese officers overseeing the massacring of a battalion of Chinese captured troops."

"They were marching about in groups of about 15, machine-gunning them."

As he departed, he saw 200 men being executed in 10 minutes to the apparent enjoyment of Japanese military spectators.

He concluded that the rape of Nanjing was "one of the great atrocities of modern times".

'The memories cannot be erased'

A Christian missionary, John Magee, described Japanese soldiers as killing not only "every prisoner they could find but also a vast number of ordinary citizens of all ages".

"Many of them were shot down like the hunting of rabbits in the streets," he said.


Some victims were reportedly buried alive

After what he described as a week of murder and rape, the Rev Magee joined other Westerners in trying to set up an international safety zone.

Another who tried to help was an American woman, Minnie Vautrin, who kept a diary which has been likened to that of Anne Frank.

Her entry for 16 December reads: "There probably is no crime that has not been committed in this city today. Thirty girls were taken from the language school [where she worked] last night, and today I have heard scores of heartbreaking stories of girls who were taken from their homes last night - one of the girls was but 12 years old."

Later, she wrote: "How many thousands were mowed down by guns or bayoneted we shall probably never know. For in many cases oil was thrown over their bodies and then they were burned."

"Charred bodies tell the tales of some of these tragedies. The events of the following ten days are growing dim. But there are certain of them that lifetime will not erase from my memory and the memories of those who have been in Nanjing through this period."

Minnie Vautrin suffered a nervous breakdown in 1940 and returned to the US. She committed suicide in 1941.

Also horrified at what he saw was John Rabe, a German who was head of the local Nazi party.

He became leader of the international safety zone and recorded what he saw, some of it on film, but this was banned by the Nazis when he returned to Germany.

He wrote about rape and other brutalities which occurred even in the middle of the supposedly protected area.

Confession and denial

After the Second World War was over, one of the Japanese soldiers who was in Nanjing spoke about what he had seen.


Japanese troops showed little mercy

Azuma Shiro recalled one episode: "There were about 37 old men, old women and children. We captured them and gathered them in a square."

"There was a woman holding a child on her right arm... and another one on her left."

"We stabbed and killed them, all three - like potatoes in a skewer. I thought then, it's been only one month since I left home... and 30 days later I was killing people without remorse."

Mr Shiro suffered for his confession: "When there was a war exhibition in Kyoto, I testified. The first person who criticized me was a lady in Tokyo. She said I was damaging those who died in the war."

"She called me incessantly for three or four days. More and more letters came and the attack became so severe... that the police had to provide me with protection."

Such testimony, however, has been discounted at the highest levels in Japan.

Former Justice Minister Shigeto Nagano denied that the massacre had occurred, claiming it was a Chinese fabrication.

Professor Ienaga Saburo spent many years fighting the Japanese government in the courts with only limited success for not allowing true accounts of Japanese war atrocities to be given in school textbooks.

There is also opposition to the idea among ordinary Japanese people. A film called Don't Cry Nanjing was made by Chinese and Hong Kong film-makers in 1995 but it was several years before it was shown in Japan.

Japan police record 25 anti-China reprisals amid protests

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Japanese police said they had recorded 25 attacks against Chinese interests since major anti-Japanese demonstrations broke out in China this month.

Of the 25 suspected reprisals, the National Police Agency said 14 were directed at Chinese diplomatic facilities with 11 against Chinese business, cultural or educational organizations.

The agency tracked the records of anti-China attacks from April 9 to Monday.

Jiji Press, citing police sources, said the Chinese embassy in Tokyo received bomb threats twice last week. A police spokesman declined to confirm the report.

On Monday, the glass entrance of a Chinese exchange school in Tokyo was damaged by small steel balls while in Kanagawa, south of Tokyo, the window of an office that helps Chinese trainees was broken by two pinballs.

On Sunday, a man hurled a bottle at the Chinese consulate in Osaka and then set himself on fire, suffering serious burns.

China said Monday its ties with Japan were at their lowest since formal ties were established in 1972.

Beijing has refused to apologize for the series of protests against Japan that have brought thousands of people to the street in the normally controlled country. Demonstrators have hurled bottles and cans at Japanese diplomatic facilities and torn apart Japanese businesses.

The protesters were angered by Japan's approval of a nationalist textbook, accused of glossing over atrocities from the 1931-1945 Japanese occupation, and by Japan's bid for a prestigious permanent seat on the UN Security Council whose current power structure dates from the end of World War II.

Japan foreign minister leaves China after failing to get apology

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Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura ended a two-day visit to China during which he failed to get an apology for widespread anti-Japanese protests.

"Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura concluded his visit to China and left here Tuesday morning," the Xinhua news agency reported.

China said Monday its ties with Japan were at a 30-year low and repeated it would not apologise for the series of protests after a second day of talks between Machimura and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

Li had told Machimura that China hoped Japan would take "concrete actions" to face up to its history of aggression in China to improve bilateral relations.

Machimura retorted by expressing "deep regret" over the rallies, which caused damage to Japanese diplomatic missions, restaurants and businesses in major Chinese cities.

Ties between East Asia's two most powerful nations have rapidly approached a nadir after Japan approved a nationalist textbook that glossed over wartime atrocities.

They have been further ruffled by Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Amid the tension a Japanese court rejected a compensation lawsuit filed by 10 Chinese survivors of Japanese atrocities including the 1937 Nanjing massacre.

The decision by the Tokyo High Court is consistent with repeated rulings in Japan, which says any compensation for World War II crimes is a bilateral issue between countries rather than a case an individual can bring before the courts.

The Tokyo High Court refused to hear an appeal by the women, whose case had already been dismissed by a district court. They can still go to the Supreme Court.

Plaintiffs left the courtroom holding a banner that read, "Unjust verdict."

The plaintiffs had sought 100 million yen (930,000 dollars) for atrocities including the Nanjing massacre, bombings by Japanese forces and the "Unit 731" that performed medical experiments on humans.

Meanwhile Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday defended his visits to a Tokyo war shrine that have infuriated China and called for the two countries to understand each other's views amid a heated row.

Since taking office in 2001, Koizumi has made four pilgrimages to the Yasukuni shrine, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead including seven World War II leaders hanged for war crimes.

Asked if his visits to the Shinto sanctuary were a reason for the massive anti-Japanese protests this month in China, Koizumi said: "I don't think so."

"I have been visiting in order to pledge not to have war and to mourn the war dead," Koizumi told reporters.

"Respective countries have respective histories and traditions and have different opinions," Koizumi said. "It is necessary to deepen mutual understanding."

Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, a former foreign minister, has said Japanese leaders' visits to the Yasukuni shrine were at the heart of bilateral problems.

Koizumi has visited the shrine annually since taking office, each time prompting protests by China and South Korea, which were victims of Japanese aggression.

Koizumi has not yet gone this year or said clearly if he will. His last pilgrimage was on January 1, 2004.

Chinease government are encouraging mass to protest against Japan so that they have a reason to vote against Japan's UN security council seat. Every demo held in China are guided by its government.

Chinease government are encouraging mass to protest against Japan so that they have a reason to vote against Japan's UN security council seat. Every demo held in China are guided by its government.

Correctly :bowtie:

None of any social movement would be allowed existing alongside in PRC :baaa:

It would be paid all back to Japan after action done PLUS interest :D

Correctly :bowtie:

None of any social movement would be allowed existing alongside in PRC :baaa:

It would be paid all back to Japan after action done PLUS interest :D

I need a translator!

Correctly :bowtie:

None of any social movement would be allowed existing alongside in PRC :baaa:

It would be paid all back to Japan after action done PLUS interest :D

Wanna bet on this issue? China would not pay back to Japan, and forget about the interest. Time is different now, little boy. China government still wants peace with Japan, but Japan and the U.S. (which btw is the Japan's mater) would not sit quietly to see China becoming the big regional power and leader in East Asia. A crush is inevitable. Much of the Chinese anger is sturred up by recent Japanese aggresions toward China in all areas. Much of Japanese government's actions can aslo be understood in this light. Without this conflict of interest in the East Asia region, none of these would happen anyway. So grow up, Isan. Only posting bias reports will blind you more than anything.

Japan-China relations cast long shadow over Asia-Africa meeting

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Sour relations between Japan and China cast a long shadow over a huddle of Asian and African foreign ministers in Jakarta aiming to forge a new strategic alliance between the two continents.

Although the issue of Sino-Japanese relations was not on the agenda, it dominated sideline discussions, with many Asian and other foreign ministers expressing hope that the two sides would settle their differences.

"If you look at the big picture, I'm very optimistic," said Thailand's Foreign Minister Kantathi Supamongkhon at the meeting ahead of the summit of Asian and African leaders which opens Friday.

"If you are measuring each hour, of course there are ups and down but when I look ahead, and I have talked to my colleagues from China and Japan, I don't expect any problem," Kantathi said.

A good relationship between China and Japan "is very important for the region," he added.

Kantathi spoke before ministers from more than 80 Asian and African nations delivered a joint statement on closer economic and political ties as they worked toward an accord likely to be signed by leaders on Sunday.

However, with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi both due in Jakarta Thursday, everyone was asking whether the two might use the fringes of the summit to try and iron out their differences.

Japan's foreign ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said Koizumi was keen for talks, but was still waiting for a response from China.

"The (Japanese) government is very much hopeful that this meeting wll take place but the ball is still on the Chinese side of the court and we are still waiting for word from the Chinese government."

"If this meeting materialised ... Japan intends to have a wide range of talks, with a forward looking spirit for the promotion of better relations between the two countries, politically and economically," he told reporters.

Among other foreign ministers urging the two sides towards reconciliation, Malaysia's Syed Hamid Albar said China and Japan should "keep the situation under control".

"Any increase in tensions in our area is a matter of concern, especially when it involves China and Japan. Both countries are important partners to many countries in Asia," he said.

Tensions have boiled over in the past three weeks, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets in Chinese cities to protest Tokyo's approval of a nationalist textbook that downplays Japan's wartime atrocities.

China is also opposed to Japan's drive for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, and was angered by Japan's decision to allow domestic firms to explore for gas and oil in disputed waters.

China has refused Japan's demands for an apology for the demonstrations, saying the real issue is Japan's past. It has also turned the tables on Tokyo by seeking an apology for anti-Chinese reprisals.

Both China and Japan have sent high-profile delegations to the weekend summit marking the golden jubilee of the first Asia-Africa summit held in 1955 in the city of Bandung, southeast of Jakarta, which gave birth to the Non-Aligned Movement.

It is hoped a new partnership will help revive some of the principles laid down in the original conference and strengthen the bonds between the two continents, which are home to 73 percent of the world's population.

Delegates and foreign ministers at the ministerial meeting made a joint statement committing Asia and Africa to closer political, economic, and cultural ties.

They also conveyed messages of sympathy and condolences for the devastating impact of the December 26 tsunami which killed an estimated 220,000 people around the Indian Ocean, most on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

A document on the need to prevent future disasters was prepared for the consideration of leaders attending the main summit, said a joint statement after the meeting.

Several countries also expressed their intention to host the next Asia-Africa summit.

http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/cp/world/20050422/w042205a.jpg
Audra Ang
Canadian Press

April 22, 2005
AKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -
Japan's prime minister expressed "deep remorse" over his country's Second World War aggression against Asian neighbours in a speech Friday at the Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta - a move aimed at defusing Tokyo's growing tensions with China.

"In the past Japan through its colonial rule and aggression caused tremendous damage and suffering for the people of many countries, particularly those of Asian nations," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said at the opening ceremony of the Asian-African Summit in Jakarta. "Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility."

Koizumi's apology did not go beyond what Japanese leaders previously have said, but its delivery at the conference clearly was aimed at easing an escalating row with China over Tokyo's handling of its wartime atrocities and its bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Koizumi said he was hoping for a one-on-one meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Jakarta on Saturday, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported. But China says it's still considering the proposal.

Massive anti-Japanese protests erupted in major Chinese cities this month after Tokyo approved a new history textbook that critics say plays down Japan's wartime atrocities, including mass sex slavery and germ warfare. The protesters also have targeted Tokyo's Security Council bid.

Also fuelling tensions are disputes over gas-drilling in disputed waters and Koizumi's repeated visits to a wartime shrine in Tokyo that honours executed Second World War war criminals along with 2.5 million Japanese war dead.

"With feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology always engraved in mind, Japan has resolutely maintained, consistently since the end of World War II, never turning into a military power but an economic power, its principle of resolving all matters by peaceful means, without recourse through the use of force," Koizumi said.

But in a move that contrasted with his conciliatory comments, 80 Japanese legislators on Friday visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. There were no Cabinet ministers among the group, which visited the shrine in observance of an annual spring festival.

In Jakarta, Koizumi said that Japan will stick to a "peaceful path" and increase its overseas development aid to Asian and African nations.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in an interview in Jakarta that Koizumi's speech clearly shows Japan's regret, a core point he was hoping to convey to the delegates.

"We are not just rich people hanging around giving out money. We are doing this because our whole attitude is based on remorse," Akira Chiba said. Tokyo is one of the world's largest donor's of foreign aid. "I do hope that the Chinese will hear this message too."

He said Japan still expects "a formal apology for what happened . . . because it's against international law what they did." The demonstrators have smashed windows of Japan's diplomatic missions and damaged Japanese restaurants.
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Alexa Olesen
Canadian Press

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

BEIJING (AP) - China's government on Wednesday appealed to its public to end fierce protests over Japan's handling of its wartime history and its campaign for a permanent UN Security Council seat, while the UN chief urged the two nations to hold a summit to defuse their row.

In comments widely reported Wednesday by state television and newspapers, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing appealed for calm and said the public should not take part in unauthorized demonstrations.

"Express yourselves calmly, rationally and in an orderly fashion," Li was quoted as saying. "Do not participate in unapproved marches and other activities and do not do anything that will affect social stability."

Anti-Japanese demonstrations have erupted in several Chinese cities in recent weeks over a textbook approved by Japan that critics say whitewashes the country's past militarism. The protesters, who also oppose Tokyo's Security Council bid, have smashed windows of Japan's major diplomatic missions and damaged Japanese restaurants.

China has declined Japanese demands to apologize and pay compensation, saying Japan sparked the protests by offending the Chinese people and that Tokyo should be the one to apologize.

UN secretary general Kofi Annan, who was heading to Indonesia to attend this week's Asia-Africa summit, urged Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese President Hu Jintao to hold a one-on-one meeting at the summit over the weekend.

"I will see the leaders individually, but I would encourage them to meet to discuss their differences on this issue," Annan said as he prepared to fly to Jakarta. "Both of them will be there, and I think it offers an opportunity, and hopefully they will take advantage."

Meanwhile, Japanese legislators were planning a visit Friday to a Tokyo shrine that critics say glorifies the country's militarist past. The visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honours Japan's 2.5 million war dead, was bound to further infuriate the Chinese public.

China's state-run press called such visits "a step backwards."

"We respect the Japanese culture in which Japanese pay homage to those who died for their country," said an editorial Wednesday in the China Daily. "But our understanding for officials' shrine visits is running out as war criminals are honored in this shrine."

The editorial also accused Japan of pouring "fuel on the flames of Chinese anger" by recently approving a school textbook that "denies and beautifies war crimes" and government plans to give drilling rights to Japanese companies looking to explore disputed areas of the East China Sea.

Li's appeal for calm was a reiteration of demands issued by the government since last week. But it was the first time a member of the Chinese leadership has made the appeal in public and Li's comments late Tuesday were more widely publicized, appearing on state television and the front pages of some newspapers Wednesday.
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