 |
| See more pictures here |
China’s worst outbreak of anti-Japan sentiment
in decades led to weekend demonstrations and violent attacks on
well-known Japanese businesses such as car makers Toyota and Honda,
forcing frightened Japanese into hiding and prompting Chinese state
media to warn that trade relations could now be in jeopardy.
“I’m
not going out today and I’ve asked my Chinese boyfriend to be with me
all day tomorrow,” said Sayo Morimoto, a 29-year-old Japanese graduate
student at a university in Shenzhen.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei (洪磊) said the government
would protect Japanese firms and citizens and called for protesters to
obey the law.
“The gravely destructive consequences of Japan’s
illegal purchase of the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) are steadily emerging,
and the responsibility for this should be borne by Japan,” he told a
daily news briefing.
The islands, called the Senkakus in Japan, are also claimed by Taiwan.
“The
course of developments will depend on whether or not Japan faces up to
China’s solemn stance and whether or not it faces up to the calls for
justice from the Chinese people and adopts a correct attitude and
approach,” Hong said.
China and Japan, which generated two-way
trade of US$345 billion last year, are arguing over the Diaoyutais, a
group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, which are the source
of a long-standing dispute that erupted last week when the Japanese
government decided to buy three of them from a private Japanese owner.
The move infuriated Beijing.
Yesterday, a flotilla of about 1,000 Chinese fishing boats was sailing for the islands.
The
weekend protests mainly targeted Japanese diplomatic missions, but also
shops, restaurants and car dealerships in at least five cities. Toyota
Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co said arsonists had badly damaged their
stores in Qingdao at the weekend.
However, Toyota said its
factories and offices were operating as normal yesterday and that it had
not ordered home its Japanese employees in China.
Honda will
suspend production in China starting today for two days. Fast Retailing
Co, Asia’s largest apparel retailer, said it had closed some of its
Uniqlo outlets in China and may close yet more.
Japan’s top
general retailer, Seven & I Holdings, said it would close 13 Ito
Yokado supermarkets and 198 7-Eleven convenience stores in China today,
while Sony Corp is discouraging non-essential travel to China.
Mazda
Motor Corp will halt production at its Nanjing factory, which it
jointly operates with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co and Ford Motor Co,
for four days.
Japanese electronics group Panasonic said one of
its plants had been sabotaged by Chinese workers and would remain closed
through today — the anniversary of Japan’s 1931 occupation of parts of
China, a date that Tokyo fears could trigger more anti-Japan sentiment.
Read More here
Advertisement
No comments:
Post a Comment