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© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.Chinese hold anti-Japan protests over boat dispute
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paulinusa
If you remember an incident years back, the Chinese government whipped up anti-Japanese sentiment(for nationalist reasons)that escalated into riots until the authorities clamped down. At the time western analysts speculated that there was infighting between elements in the government. Seems like the moderates are controlling things so far.
BurakuminDes
A protest cake? That's pretty awesome. I wonder if the Japanese ambassador is going to wear this cake in the face, Bill Gates style?
rockbuster
"Whoa! Be careful Alpha Team....one of the protesters is armed with a nicely decorated sponge cake - and he isn't afraid to use it."
paulinusa
The riots were in 2005. Here is a Wiki entry. What's shocking is that it mentions that the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands and East China Sea oil and gas disputes were on the hot burner even at that time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_anti-Japanese_demonstrations
dreamland
oishisou!
Disillusioned
Now would be a good time to get out of Japan before a billion Chinese decide to crawl up Japan's butt. It's been boiling for a long time and this could very well be the turning point.
GW
paulinusa
the senkaku`s & oil/gas has been an issue for many years now, it isnt something new, it becomes news when China or Taiwan want to stir the pot
smithinjapan
GW: "the senkaku`s & oil/gas has been an issue for many years now, it isnt something new, it becomes news when China or Taiwan want to stir the pot"
To be fair, while you are correct, it's becoming more and more the news as actual extraction of the gas fields becomes closer to being a reality. If things keep going this way, China is simply not going to let Japan get anywhere close, while they take it all. What can Japan do about it but wish they had let the fisherman go?
sabiwabi
Wow!!! In China, they were able to gather a few dozens Chinese protesters.
And I wonder how many were there just for the free cake!
I guess this demonstrates how few in China care about this, I wonder why it made it in the news.
Beelzebub
I thought with their newfound prosperity and more open society Chinese were getting smarter. But this shows they are as easily manipulated and dumbed down as ever. What the hell did demonstrating on the street outside the embassy every accomplish, except scaring off visits by Japanese tourist groups to the Great Wall?
kwatt
It looks like that China will not send navy fleet to Senkaku islands to regain. China may have to accept that Japan has been controlling the islands for century and will ever. What China can do now is to give Japan shit as much as possible. Japan seems to tolerate it.
Jkanda
Nothing to worry. Chinese will remain Chinese! They are afraid and that is why they made a sponge cake with soft icing! Yeah more than anything, they should know where to keep their fishing boats.
jianadaren
Who's to say what's inside that soft icing?
shinjukuboy
What? 50 Chinese out of 1.5 billion have a demonstration, and that is news? Anyway, a Japanese friend living in Beijing says most Chinese find rabidly anti-Japanese Chinese scarry.
Gunnlane
Some day soon China is going to be the most powerful economic power on Earth and every other country is going to be sorry. China is a Godless country with no honesty, no principles and will try to push every other country around regardless of right or wrong. You are only seeing the beginning of what they are trying to do to Japan and the United States and the rest of World. The stronger they get the more ruthless they will become and will try to dominate every other country on Earth. Be aware and forewarned. This is only the beginning.
alladin
Well, japan has surely did it now. They really pissed off the Chinese and now there is no way to calm them down. I think it is the worst time for any Japanese person to travel to China right now.
isthistheend
So what are we gonna do Gunnlane? Be aware and forewarned....and then what? Punt? The Earth will survive for how long? 100 years? pray tell another 1000, more? Who can say. So can we just try and take care of today without reaping consequences of tomorrow? I doubt it. What do you think tkoind2 and Smith san? Is this just another provocation or is it going to play out like Gunnlane is saying? Can China become self-sufficient and bully the world around or is there another way. In Japan, people are desparate with stress, because theres no jobs for young people, and we all know the rest. Japanese don't protest openly about it, but I hear these type of conversations daily on the trains, especially on the weekends, when I go out of main Tokyo area. Is Japan going to survive?
mushroomcloud
It's like the Turkish/Greek animosity, Israeli/Arab hatred, British/Irish etc. These blood feuds will go on forever.
Japan waged 8+ years of war on the Chinese mainland, for which millions died on both sides. Even though Japan lost the war, bitter feelings will remain the norm for the next few hundred years. We can anticipate these islands to be a flashpoint, but neither side is willing to go to war over these unpopulated rocks.
BTW, there was a protest in NYC about this yesterday, roughly 1,000, and not organized or whipped up by the Chinese govt.
paulinusa
"China’s ruling Communist Party partly encourages anti-Japanese sentiment to burnish its nationalist credentials,..."
Insecurity on the part of the government?
OssanAmerica
So 50 Chinese demonstrated. BFD. China as a nation has far greater stakes in maintaining it's relationship with it's biggest trading partner. Which is why the Chinese police are clamping down on them.
No country in the world would let the capt go after he smashed two coast guard vessels. Should China's neighbors start simply obeying China's every absurd self-centered demands? Should SKorea and Japan become "vassal states" of China? To even suggest it is ridiculous.
Maybe yes, maybe no.
mushroomcloud
"China’s ruling Communist Party partly encourages anti-Japanese sentiment to burnish its nationalist credentials,..."
Insecurity on the part of the government?
In terms of the subject of this article, it's more like true popular anger. Like I said before, there was a demonstration in NYC (NEW YORK CITY) yesterday that was larger than any in China. Almost all of the protesters were Chinese-Americans and evidently not fomented by insecurity on the part of the (Chinese) government.
GW
smithinjpn
China orchestrated this whole thing from the start, now they dont have to pretend to cooperate with Jpn about sharing resources, China will just take them. Even if Jpn had quickly returned the boat,crew & captain China wud have used this to call off talks & just send in the drills & fishing boats. The only reason either is interested in these small isles is for the oil/gas & fish, now China has manufatured an excuse to just go for it.
But China has to be careful because they are their own worst enemy, I predict internal strife will cause China more & more problems for itself, China may well have to wage war on outsiders in order to prevent itself from imploding, time will tell how it plays out
mushroomcloud
'China orchestrated this whole thing from the start, now they dont have to pretend to cooperate with Jpn about sharing resources, China will just take them. Even if Jpn had quickly returned the boat,crew & captain China wud have used this to call off talks & just send in the drills & fishing boats. The only reason either is interested in these small isles is for the oil/gas & fish, now China has manufatured an excuse to just go for it.'
Yes. But at the same time, there is popular anger out there right now about the detention of the Chinese captain. The longer Japan holds him, the more popular protests there will be in Chinese communities around the world, including those in China. That said, China will start drilling unilaterally, without question.
'But China has to be careful because they are their own worst enemy, I predict internal strife will cause China more & more problems for itself, China may well have to wage war on outsiders in order to prevent itself from imploding, time will tell how it plays out.'
Most definitely there will be unrest with the small populations of Uighur and Tibetan minorities. As far as the Han Chinese majority, while there will always be unrest to varying degrees due to curruption and the unequal ratio of rich to relatively poor, an all out rebellion is highly unlikely due to what the 'Red Communist' govt has accomplished; at last count, they moved 300 million out of poverty, and another 300 million into the middle class. No govt in China's history, nor world history for that matter, has moved so many people out of poverty in such short amount of time.
paulinusa
mushroomcloud:"Insecurity on the part of the government"
GW gets it. It's the oldest political ploy in the book, and one that China plays continuously. Get the people angry at "them"(Japan,Tibet etc) so they don't get angry at "us"(the government).
mushroomcloud
paulinusa: 'GW gets it. It's the oldest political ploy in the book, and one that China plays continuously. Get the people angry at "them"(Japan,Tibet etc) so they don't get angry at "us"(the government).'
Then I guess by all practical accounts, the Chinese govt has been quite successful in this endeavor, no? But in this case, the Chinese are angry at the Chinese govt, for not taking a more hardline stance with Japan.
paulinusa, the Chinese govt does not have to do much to whip up anti-Japanese sentiment. The Chinese people (and that includes the large overseas Chinese communities) pretty much hate the Japanese from the get-go. Case in point, as I mentioned before, the protest in New York City by 1,000 Chinese Americans.
Jkanda
I think just having the money is not enough.There is lack of education for the vast majority of Chinese. So China will have internal trouble soon.Not an expert, but my observation.
YuriOtani
mushroomcloud, I suppose all of this is suppose to make me like the Chinese? Stories like this make me think a real peace with China is impossible. Thus why bother to try? It is stupid to do something you know will fail. Best thing we can do is to stay out of China and keep our military ready and if need make our our deterrent force. I suppose the Chinese people do not know the difference between a Japanese person and one from Okinawa.
OssanAmerica
Which is why frankly I don't trust the Chinese-Americans who support a dictatorship that trains with the US as it's designated enemy. Just a couple decades ago most Chinese-Anericans were vehemently anti-communist and anti-PRC as they had immigrated from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Today a great many Chinese-Americans openly support the PRC and the exposure to spy activity is nearly unmanagable. Fortuanely such demonstrators are usually photgraphed and rest in an FBI file.
mushroomcloud
Yurio,
Not sure you noticed, but the Chinese certainly could care less if you and your people like them or not.
Better to co-exist and nothing more. There will not be war for the simple fact that Japan can't hack it alone, and China does not want to interrupt it's 'peaceful rise', meaning, economic domination of Asia.
YuriOtani
mushroomcloud, there is no "co-existence" possible with China. They might as well be located on Venus or Mars. In fact it would be beneficial for Japan to have nothing to do with them at all. No diplomatic relations, no trade or anything, this global economy is just another falsehood of the west. We did it before and could do it again, live our lives to please ourselves. Using our technology we can come up with a way to become self dependent again. Unlike the Chinese, the people of Japan just want to live our own lives.
Elephunk
lol yuri, did you already forget how self-isolation turned out for japan in the past? considering that more than half of your economy is dependent on exports, please stop saying silly thing like "global economy is a falsehood from the west". makes you look really unintelligent.
paulinusa
"Case in point, as I mentioned before, the protest in New York City by 1,000 Chinese Americans."
Well I live near NY and I can't find any info about a large protest(not that it has any significance).
"Today a great many Chinese-Americans openly support the PRC and the exposure to spy activity is nearly unmanagable."
Let's not get silly here. There are 2.6 million Chinese Americans, the vast majority are loyal citizens.
mareo2
Some people say that the majority of the chinese are deeply anti-japan and nationalists. If it so, then why they don't boycott japanese products and buy chinese in place of fill their homes with japanese branded products even if it cost 50% or more?
OssanAmerica
Silly? Hardly. It's true that the vast majority are loyal Americans of Chinese ethnic background, as is true of all Americans of various national and religious backgrounds . But we've never had as many PRC supporters both obvert and covert amongst us as we do now.
mushroomcloud
Ossan,
Your comments are silly, childish, and hark back to the McCarthy era.
By your definition, to be a loyal American (and one that does not support the PRC), one cannot or should not purchase anything made in China. Ever shop at Walmart, Kmart, or Target? If you have, you are now a PRC supporter. Did you ever fly in a Boeing airplane or drive/own a GM car? Well, by your definition, you are now a PRC supporter (ask for the details, I'll be happy to provide). See that US aircraft carrier steaming to port? Guess who's in part paying for it?
Get my drift? The 2 countries are connected, very connected, and things simply cannot be summed up in black and white as you typically do.
icyivy
mushroomcloud> I am Chinese and I feel you shouldn't speak for all Chinese people. I don't agree with many of your views neither do majority of the Chinese people around the world. Only a dozen to 100 people protesting out of 1.5 billion in China, that's less than 0.00001 percent of the population. The majority of us are not anti-Japanese and we believe in peace! If you are so anti-japan,why are you posting on this site?
mushroomcloud
Yurio,
Hate to break it to you (again), but Japan's mere existence is dependent on China. Why? Check your food supply. China feeds your country, since a significant portion of your food imports come from them. Sucks, doesn't it?
Further, everyone of Japan's companies has huge joint ventures with Chinese companies, in China. China is WAY big in terms of supplying Japan with the components needed to make the products we fat Americans love, your cars, your LCDs, your cameras, photocopiers and such. You remove China out of the supply chain and Japan has no more economy because you guys and gals simply cannot produce the products in a cost competitive manner (hint: Japanese are too old, too lazy, and too expensive).
Lastly, the cutting edge of Japan's products are clean technology exports (hybrid cars, etc). Guess what they require? That's right, rare earth elements, and China controls 98% of that market. You take away this import and Japan is left to producing expensive clock radios.
So, Yurio, my suggestion to you: keep dreaming.
mushroomcloud
icyivy,
Thanks for your very first post! In terms of protesting, please, I make no claim that all 1.5 billion Chinese are going to protest this dispute, waste of time.
That said, I do agree with you that Chinese people, all peoples for that matter, want peace. But as we have seen in history, and posters have noted here, it has been extremely rare for a rising nation to have a purely peaceful ascendence.
We shall see what happens.
The758
I just saw some protest footage on the news. Those right-wingers really need to relax; they were practically frothing at the mouth
OssanAmerica
Mushroom are you suggesting that there exist no other sources for food supplies on this entire planet other than China?
OssanAmerica
No my comments are factual, real and reflected in the current Chinese agenda of military expansion and intent to replace US strategic dominance in east asia, from the Chinese military themselves. The FBI spends considerable time amd effort on trying to prevent espionage by Chinese agents in the US. Do you seriously think for a moment that these are not real? What dream world do you live in? Or are you simply following the current Chinese principle of attempting to convince the world that China's rise is "peaceful"? I assure there is nothing about my statements that are childish.
I never touched on economic trade.
Provide the details of how China "owns" boeing. Or how holding US treasuries equals ownership of the US Navy.
Sorry but it's China and it's aggressive policies towards her neighbors that's "black and white". I'm just caling it for what it is, nothing more. When China learns to behave like a civilized first world country then you'll have my attention. Meantime I'm not buying your pro-PRC propaganda.
Scrote
Chinese people need to take a close look at the activities of their unelected dictatorship before criticising Japan. They still have a picture of Mass Murdered Mao on their banknotes, the man responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese. How about protesting that for a start?
In comparison, the temporary arrest of a fishing boat captain is nothing. How pathetic these people are.
yosun
Herein please focus on Diaoyutai islands. Actually The U.S. doesn’t take a position on who owns the islands, so the US won't be in the absurd position of being committed to help Japan fight a war over those islands. That's why till date we didn't hear any formal US officer to mention whom they support for this issue. So anyone hereof talking about war between China and the US is only personal dreaming.
yosun
@YuriOtani: According to world DNA surveying sponsored by more than 30 countries a few years ago, more than 60% current Japanese own typical Chinese DNA. This percentage is even more than people in so much area of China! I suggest you to check your DNA first, then make decision whether you want to co-existence with pure Japanese or you want to move to other planet. LOL~
guguweng
brothers also wanna fight? insane!
GW
mushroomcloud,
ok but how long can China keep this up & even maintain the status quo? Its already getting harder, wages seem to me to be increasing quite quick, how many more years can China still be the worlds manufacturer............I think it will end somewhat quickly & it will/is difficult for China to keep the cap on its bottle so to speak
Elbuda Mexicano
Too much Chinese are sick of their communist government and too afraid to ever protest against Beijing to end up getting killed Tianamen Square style, so it is always nice for the Beijing government to let the natives vent off their anger against poor little Japan, over some crummy islands??
hsr0601
A Win-Win Deal :
There is a wide consensus that a renewable market is an optimal middle ground for both parties to join hands.
High-tech & a spacious market could supplement each other and move this partnership closer to recovery.
I've been waiting for this partnership to push the world for a global RES accord to make sure this planet gets around today's energy crisis. Supposedly, Investors might favor a specific goal over a differentiated one.
OssanAmerica
Total nonsense. The US does indeed take a position on the Senkaku Islands. How do you think it ended up in Japan's control after 1972? The US is in the position of guaranteeing militrary defense of Japan in the event of an invasion under the terms of the US-Japan Mtual Defense Treaty. I suggest that if there is any doubt China immediately their inent to invade and occupy the islands and see what happens.
OssanAmerica
"at last count, they moved 300 million out of poverty, and another 300 million into the middle class. No govt in China's history, nor world history for that matter, has moved so many people out of poverty in such short amount of time."
That would be great if China's population were 600 million. Unfortunately that's less than half of the population so the majority have been left behind.
limboinjapan
mushroomcloud at 06:35 AM JST - 19th September:"Yurio,
Hate to break it to you (again), but Japan's mere existence is dependent on China. Why? Check your food supply. China feeds your country, since a significant portion of your food imports come from them. Sucks, doesn't it?
Further, everyone of Japan's companies has huge joint ventures with Chinese companies,"
Take a look at many of Japan's largest corporations lately and in particular the food industry and tech and really see where they are focusing a lot of their attention.
It is not China but India!
No India is not fully ready to take the entirety of what the Japanese have now in China but that is not far off, many Japanese companies view India as less intrusive into their design, development, patent and intellectual property.
If you live in Tokyo then take a ride around and look closely at the recent increase in the number of Indian business people (and no they are not all IT or restaurant workers) , I have brokered several deals recently, yes they are mostly just trials but the oldest one look like they are going to move to the next stage.
I'm a small fish in this and I know of some major player that are now working on the same sort of thing (wish I had a piece of that action I could retire on the money from one or 2 commissions alone).
China knows this and I think this is also one reason they are stirring the pot a bit, perhaps trying to scare some into rethinking moving elsewhere!
yosun
@ OssanAmerica: Please don't underestimate wisdom of top authority of the US. Of course they will definitely defend for JP if someone attack JP. However the defense zone won't cover these Taiwan's islands. Why not the US power to take back the 4 north Japanese islands occupied by the Russia right now??? Do you really think the US will sacrifice American lives to play this sort of boring game?
4seasonsjapan
OOsanAmerica What a surprise to find you posting anti-Chinese rhetoric again; can’t help yourself, I guess. I would think that being “An American veteran” you would have a grander world scope and more important things to do with your time than to obsess (post almost daily) about China and Korea, disparage the United States (what’s that all about veteran?), and valiantly defend Japan (at absolutely every opportunity). I’ve enjoyed reading your history posts (as should everybody else reading this) and would find your attempt at spreading Japanese right wing propaganda amusing if were so disturbing and dangerous…But then again, judging from people’s responses to your posts, they don’t take you seriously anyway.
jayhw
elbudamexicano You are totally right。。。