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Chinese protest as Japan activists raise flags on disputed isle

Dunya News

Japan activists swam ashore and raised flags Sunday on an island claimed by both Japan and China.

It would further fan an escalating territorial dispute between the two Asian powers. Some 10 activists made an unauthorized landing on Uotsuri, the largest in a small archipelago known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands and in China as Diaoyu Islands. The uninhabited islands surrounded by rich fishing grounds are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan.Chinas Foreign Ministry protested Saturday, before the visit even happened.Any unilateral action taken by Japan on the islands is illegal and invalid, it said in a statement issued on its website.On Sunday, Chinas official Xinhua News Agency reported that hundreds of people in cities across the country marched in protest.Days earlier, a group of 14 Hong Kong residents and mainland Chinese had traveled by boat to the islands, and some swam ashore. Protesters in Beijing, Hong Kong and other cities praised them as heroes and burned Japanese flags, but Japan arrested them for landing without authorization.On Friday, Tokyo deported the group, seeking to quiet the regional spat. But plans for further visits by activists on both sides appear likely to further inflame the territorial tensions.Taiwanese Foreign Minister Timothy Yang summoned Japans de facto ambassador to Taiwan, Sumio Tarui, on Sunday to lodge a protest over the visit to Senkaku by Japanese activists, saying the provocative act had heightened tensions in the area, according to a ministry statement.The spat over long-contested territories comes as Chinas ruling communist party prepares for a major leadership transition. Leaders in both China and Japan face strong domestic pressure to defend national interests.Frictions have also flared up recently over another set of disputed islands, controlled by South Korea.Meanwhile, Protests against Japan broke out in at least eight Chinese cities on Sunday, as authorities allowed thousands of people to show their anger over a bitter territorial row between the two nations.The demonstrations -- which saw Japanese shops and cars targeted in some cities -- erupted after Japanese nationalists landed on an island claimed by both countries.The latest anti-Japan protests are thought to be the most widespread in China since 2005, when several cities saw demonstrations over a slew of grievances including Japans wartime atrocities.In the southern city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, protesters waved Chinese flags and shouted slogans as they marched on major streets, with the numbers swelling to about 1,000, the official Xinhua news agency said.Zhang Pei, one of the participants, said protesters were marching towards the train station on the border with Hong Kong.The demonstration is strung out for seven to eight kilometres (four to five miles). Many police are escorting us along the street, he told.