China ‘concerned’ over Japan island row protest

Beijing expressed “deep concern” yesterday at anti-China protests by Japanese nationalists at its embassy in Tokyo over a diplomatic spat centred on a group of disputed islands.

The comment followed tit-for-tat demonstrations in China and Japan yesterday over the row that broke out last month when Japan detained a Chinese fishing boat captain near the islands in the East China Sea.

“China has expressed its deep concern to Japan over this,” foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement on the ministry website. “We urge the Japanese side to ...take effective measures to ensure the safety of China’s embassy, consulates, institutions and personnel in Japan.”

Japanese nationalist groups rallied in central Tokyo against China’s “invasion” of the islands and delivered a protest note to the Chinese embassy, while thousands demonstrated against Japan in three Chinese cities.

The protests came despite moves to patch up the row.

In Tokyo, Japanese flags fluttered in a park as more than 1,000 people gathered for the second major rally since the maritime incident. Banners carried such messages as ‘Japan is in danger!’ and ‘Don’t forgive invader China’.

As demonstrators left the park and started a march, two young men, believed to be Chinese, sat in the street to stop the rally.

One of their banners read: ‘Stop fuelling harassment towards Chinese residents in Japan’.

The two scuffled with Japanese nationalists and were dragged away by police officers. They were immediately released, according to police.

At the start of the rally, Asako Ogura, a lawyer who belongs to the conservative Sunrise Party, drew large cheers as she took up a microphone to claim China had been ungrateful to Japan.