Chinese Protests against Japan Escalating

[Guest fountainhall]

As the worldwide Muslim protests over a moronic movie seem to be subsiding, America is indirectly being dragged into protests that have broken out over 14 barren rocks in the South China Sea. Called the Daioyu Islands by the Chinese and Senkaku by the Japanese, both countries claim sovereignty over them. The protests were triggered in April when Tokyo’s governor announced he’d use public funds to buy the islands and develop them, a potentially inflammatory move. To avert this, the Japanese government bought them last week.

 

China claims it discovered and owned the islands from the 14th century till 1895, when Japan forcibly took control until the end of World War II. They were then under US administration until being returned in 1972 to the Japanese family which had owned them pre-war. The family then leased them back to the government. To avoid controversy, the Japanese government specifically forbids its citizens from visiting the islands. Yet, a small group of militants did just that last month.

 

Now China is retaliating – in the media, on the streets and at sea. This is the cover of a recent newspaper.

 

 

There have been major street protests in China and Hong Kong, and a group of Hong Kong activists also sailed to the islands recently. Recently a Honda civic was burned outside a Honda dealership in Shanghai. Ratcheting up the tension, Chinese carmaker BYD, in which Warren Buffett holds a 10% stake, is giving the protestor a BYD Surui car in support for his “patriotic enthusiasm.”

 

This dispute is not ideological, though. The islands have potential economic ramifications due to the possibility of oil nearby.

 

Despite past disputes involving rowdy demonstrations – especially when Japanese Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers have paid controversial visits to the Yasukuni Shrine where Japanese war dead are buried, including those branded as responsible for the horrors perpetrated in China during World War II – both governments have managed to keep the lid on them. Both have recognised their interdependence with $345 billion of trade between the countries. This time, however, the stakes have been increased and Japanese companies are suspending operations in China. Panasonic, Canon, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Toyota and Sony have temporarily stopped production in many of their plants.

 

China will no doubt put an end to the demonstrations when It suits them. In the meantime, the US is being dragged in. Yesterday, about 50 protestors surrounded the car of the US Ambassador in Beijing causing minor damage to the vehicle. The Ambassador was unhurt, but demonstrations outside the Japanese Embassy have spilled over to the nearby US Embassy. Taiwan is also a player in this struggle as it also claims sovereignty. But for now it sides with China to present a unified front against the Japanese.

 

Yesterday also marked the 81^st anniversary of Japan’s brutal invasion of China.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...nniversary.html

http://news.yahoo.co...-012025364.html