Japan may post troops at Embassy in China
Japan’s foreign minister called on China to denounce violent anti-Japanese protests as Chinese nationalists prepared for a third weekend of demonstrations over Tokyo’s wartime aggression and its campaign for a UN Security Council seat.
Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura also said Japan was looking into tightening security for its diplomats, suggesting Tokyo might post soldiers at its embassies, which now rely on local police. Japan’s mission in Beijing was targeted by an angry crowd last week.
Machimura, due to fly to Beijing on Sunday, said he would convey a demand for Chinese leaders to denounce the protests. If they fail to act, he said in Tokyo, then “the government is acknowledging its support for the demonstrations".
Relations between the Asian giants have plunged since Japan’s approval of a history textbook last week that critics say plays down Tokyo’s World War II atrocities such as germ warfare and sex slavery of Asian women.
Escalating tensions, Japan announced plans on Wednesday to drill for gas in disputed waters of the East China Sea. China, which also has gas claims in the area, criticised the move as a provocation and said it might take steps in response.
Activists circulated messages on Web sites and by mobile phone calling for more protests in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities opposing Tokyo’s Security Council bid and the new Japanese history textbooks.
Some demonstrations have turned violent. A crowd stoned Japan’s embassy in Beijing last weekend and held rallies in two other cities. A week earlier, protesters broke windows at a Japanese department store in China’s southwest. At least two Japanese students have been attacked.
Beijing tried to mollify Japan yesterday, saying it was appealing to its public to avoid extremism, while Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called for dialogue over the sea dispute.
The disputes are fuelled by lingering Chinese anger over Japanese wartime atrocities and modern anxieties over Tokyo’s new military and diplomatic ambitions, as well as competition for energy by the two economic giants.
At the same time, the two sides are major economic partners.
