USA/JAPAN: Demonstrators protest Japan’s detention of Chinese fishing ship captain

Record ID: 465220

  • Title: USA/JAPAN: Demonstrators protest Japan’s detention of Chinese fishing ship captain
  • Date: 18th September 2010
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 17, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CHINESE AND TAIWANESE DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING SIGNS AND SINGING AND CHANTING OUTSIDE THE JAPANESE CONSULATE TWO FEMALE PROTESTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAMES CHEN, ANTI-JAPAN PROTESTER, SAYING: "The Japanese are always making trouble. We are demonstrating because the Japanese are occupying our territory, so we want to fight them back. It never belonged to the Japanese, it belongs to China." (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) LOIXIAN JIANG, ANTI-JAPAN PROTESTER, SAYING: "It's not about the dispute. The point is that the territory is very important for the relationship between China and Japan. I won't be surprised if it damages the relationship, because China Japan relations improved after World War II and there was a lot of support between the two." (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) STEVEN WONG, ANTI-JAPAN PROTESTER, SAYING: "I'm here today because it was illegal for Japan to arrest the captain of the Chinese fishing boat and Japan should release him and let him go home." (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) PHILIP LAM, ANTI-JAPAN PROTESTER, SAYING: "The two countries should sit down and talk and solve the problem through diplomacy. These islands have been Chinese territory throughout history. This is an historic problem and hopefully they can solve the issue by talking." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS OUTSIDE THE JAPANESE CONSULATE SIGN AND FLAG, TILT TO MAN HOLDING THEM PROTESTERS PROTESTERS FROM ACROSS THE STREET BUILDING HOUSING JAPAN'S CONSULATE, TILT TO PROTESTERS
  • Embargoed: 3rd October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA4OTBNQN8HOJM0611DDG2ZEW7S
  • Story Text: The dispute between China and Japan over a group of islands in the East China Sea heated up further on Friday (September 17).
    Close to 300 demonstrators gathered outside the Japanese Consulate in New York to voice their disapproval over the continued incarceration of a Chinese fishing boat captain.
    The week-old row began on September 08 when Japan arrested Zhan Qixiong, the captain of the Chinese fishing boat that collided with two Japanese coast guard boats near disputed islets in the East China Sea.
    The 14 Chinese crew members were released on Monday (September 13) from the southern Japanese island of Ishigaki, but the captain remains in custody.
    The incident has given an emotive focus to a long-running dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over who owns the group of islets, called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, believed to be rich in oil and gas.
    Protester James Chen said that the territory has never belonged to the Japanese.
    "The Japanese are always making trouble. We are demonstrating because the Japanese are occupying our territory, so we want to fight them back," said Chen.
    The row will remain a stubborn sticking point between Asia's top two economies, which already face a slew of disputes stemming from Japan's invasion and occupation of parts of China before and during World War Two.
    Demonstrator Loixian Jiang said the dispute could permanently damage diplomatic ties.
    "It's not about the dispute. The point is that the territory is very important for the relationship between China and Japan. I won't be surprised if it damages the relationship, because China Japan relations improved after World War II and there was a lot of support between the two," said Jiang.
    China blames Japan for the territorial rift and the last-minute postponement of an official visit to Tokyo.
    Protester Philip Lam said the countries should hold talks to resolve the issue.
    "These islands have been Chinese territory throughout history. This is an historic problem and hopefully they can solve the issue by talking," Lam told Reuters.
    China has postponed talks aimed at eventually reaching a treaty on joint development of the disputed undersea gas resources in the area.
    In 2008, Beijing and Tokyo agreed to try to solve the feud by jointly developing gas fields, but progress has been halting.
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