More anti-Japan protests in China as Chinese boats enter disputed area

BEIJING: Tens of thousands of anti-Japan demonstrators rallied across China over disputed islands yesterday, a key historical anniversary, as Tokyo said 11 Chinese government vessels had entered the area.
The moves followed several days of protests, some of them violent, that have raised international concerns and fears of conflict between two of the world’s top three economies, with Japanese firms shutting or scaling back production.
Several thousand people gathered outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, some throwing eggs and plastic bottles and others carrying portraits of Mao Zedong, the divisive late leader venerated by some for standing up to Japan.
“China is not a weak country any more. We are strong and we should no longer be bullied by Japan,” said Jiu Longtou, a 31-year factory worker. “Diaoyu Island is Chinese and we should protect it from Japan.”
A Japanese coastguard spokesman said 10 Chinese maritime surveillance ships and a fisheries patrol boat had entered an area known as the contiguous zone around the East China Sea islets, with three going into territorial waters. No immediate comment was available from Chinese ministries and authorities.
But China’s defense minister Liang Guanglie said earlier Beijing reserved the right to take “further actions” over the islands — which are controlled by Tokyo — while hoping for “a peaceful and negotiated solution.”
At a joint press conference, his US counterpart Leon Panetta urged “calm and restraint by all sides.”
Tuesday marked the anniversary of the Sept. 18, 1931 “Mukden Incident” in which Japanese soldiers blew up a railway in Manchuria as a pretext to take control of China’s entire northeastern region, which is commemorated every year in China.
Chinese state television showed sirens being sounded at 9:18 a.m. — symbolising the date — as a reminder to “remember the history and not forget national disgrace,” it said.
Tokyo was pressing China through diplomatic channels to protect Japanese citizens and firms in China, said the Japanese government’s top spokesman.
Despite the tensions, China and Japan have close trade and business ties, with numerous Japanese companies investing in their larger neighbor and two-way trade totalling $342.9 billion last year.
Toyota declined to offer specifics on shutdowns at its three assembly plants and six other factories in China.
Honda Motor, which makes about 970,000 vehicles a year in China, said it had closed all five of its plants in the country for Tuesday and Wednesday, while Nissan temporarily shut two of its three factories.
Electronics giants Canon, Panasonic and Sony also said they were temporarily shutting some China operations.
Armed police were deployed in force at protests across China. Some marchers carried banners that denounced Japan or called for boycotts of Japanese goods, while others urged Beijing to stand up to its historic rival.
Protesters in the capital carried signs reading “Kill Japanese,” placards with the face of the Japanese prime minister on the body of a dog, and a picture showing a Chinese soldier stabbing a Japanese enemy with a sword.
In Shanghai, 3,000 protesters rallied outside the Japanese consulate, some carried banners reading: “Leave Japanese dogs” and “Exterminate the Japanese.”
Minor scuffles broke out in the southern city of Shenzhen and hundreds of protesters marched in Chengdu, in the southwest.
In August, pro-Beijing nationalists landed on one of the islands, setting off the current tensions.
The row intensified last week when the Tokyo government bought three of the islands from their private Japanese owners, effectively nationalising them.