JAPAN: Government seeks to repair relations with China while right-wing activists protest Tokyo's response to a territorial dispute

Record ID: 465675

  • Title: JAPAN: Government seeks to repair relations with China while right-wing activists protest Tokyo's response to a territorial dispute
  • Date: 3rd October 2010
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (OCTOBER 2, 2010) (REUTERS) JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY YOSHITO SENGOKU WALKING IN FOR INTERVIEW JAPANESE FLAG BEHIND SENGOKU SENGOKU BEING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY YOSHITO SENGOKU SAYING "There must be an enriching and strengthening our mutual strategic relationship. This is something we feel even more so in the context of the trouble surrounding this accident." SENGOKU LISTENING TO QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY YOSHITO SENGOKU SAYING " Just handshakes at a high level is not enough. There must be something concrete that will lead to rebuilding relations" MORE OF SENGOKU (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY YOSHITO SENGOKU SAYING "I believe that once a bit more time goes by, the Japanese people will understand that freeing him at that time was a good course of action, and that's what had to be done." PROTESTERS GATHERED TO PROTEST GOVERNMENT DECISION TO RELEASE CHINESE FISHING BOAT CAPTAIN ORGANIZER SPEAKING TO CROWD PROTESTERS LISTENING TO SPEECH PROTESTER WEARING SIGN THAT READS "SENKAKU ISLANDS ARE JAPANESE TERRITORY" PROTESTERS CLAPPING EX-GENERAL OF JAPANESE AIR SELF DEFENSE AND HEAD OF "GANBARE! NIPPON" TOSHIO TAMOGAMI, SPEAKING TO CROWD PROTESTERS CHEERING AND CLAPPING (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) EX-GENERAL OF JAPANESE AIR SELF DEFENSE AND HEAD OF "GANBARE! NIPPON" TOSHIO TAMOGAMI, SAYING "The one who is at fault in the incident this time regarding the Senkaku islands is China. It's obvious that it violates international law. Even so, Japan has been making concessions as if it is at fault. It's strange." PROTESTERS GATHERED AND LISTENING TO SPEECHES (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) MAKI KUKITA, 20-YEAR-OLD PROTESTOR, SAYING: "Thanks to the Senkaku island problem, compared to a year ago, people have finally started to realize the danger of the current Democratic Party administration. In that sense, I think it was a good thing." PROTESTERS MARCHING VAN DRIVING IN FRONT OF PROTESTERS WITH SIGN FOR "GANBARE! NIPPON" PROTESTERS MARCHING DOWN STREET JAPANESE FLAGS HELD BY PROTESTERS VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING
  • Embargoed: 18th October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD9T6LX6WBJZNY7WFXTKUPSG6H
  • Story Text: Japan emphasized on Saturday(October 2) the importance ofrebuilding Japan's relationship with China while right-wing protesters marched to condemn what they say was Japan caving in to pressure.
    Ties between the world's two biggest economies sank to their lowest in years after Japan's Coast Guard detained a Chinese trawler skipper whose boat collided last month with two Japanese patrol ships near islands in the East China Sea.
    The disputed islands, called Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by Japan, are claimed by both countries and are near potentially huge gas reserves.
    Yoshito Sengoku, the de facto No.2 in Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet said in an interview with Reuters the incident gave even more reason to improve relations.
    "There must be a enriching and strengthening our mutual strategic relationship. This is something we felt even more so in the context of the trouble surrounding this accident, " said Sengoku. "Just handshakes at a high level is not enough. There must be something concrete that will lead to rebuilding relations."
    Kan has come under heavy fire domestically for appearing to cave into China's demands, but Sengoku defended his decision.
    "I believe that once a bit more time goes by, the Japanese people will understand that freeing him at that time was a good course of action, and that's what had to be done." Sengoku said.
    Meanwhile, more than 1,000 conservative activists rallied in Tokyo to assert Japan's claim to the islands and blast the government's handling of the affair.
    The head of the organization "Ganbare! Nippon", which loosely means "Go! Japan", Toshio Tamogami, said criticize the government's release of the Chinese fishing captain.
    "The one who is at fault in the incident this time regarding the Senkaku islands is China. It's obvious that it violates international law. Even so, Japan has been making concessions as if it is at fault. It's strange," said Toshio Tamogami, head of the organization "Gambare! Nippon!" which loosely translates into "Go! Japan!".
    Tamogami was a general in the Japanese Air Self Defense Force until he was dismissed in 2008 after publishing an essay that hinted that there was no Japanese aggression against China during World War Two.
    Others attending the rally said that the incident was actually a good thing in that it showed the flaws of the relatively new Democratic Party of Japan administration.
    "Thanks to this Senkaku island problems, compared to a year ago, people have finally started to realize the danger of the current Democratic Party administration. In that sense, I think it was a good thing," said 20-year-old Maki Kukita.
    Sino-Japanese ties are plagued by China's memories of Japan's past military aggression, rivalry over territory and resources, and Tokyo's suspicions as Beijing spends big chunks of its growing wealth on modernizing its military and turning its navy into a blue power fleet that can project its power.
    At the same time, the two economies have grown ever more interdependent, with China -- now overtaking Japan as the world's second biggest economy -- replacing the United States as Japan's biggest trading partner last year.
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