Sat, Apr 16, 2005 page1

• Chinese warned over more protests

  CLAMPING DOWN Beijing is trying to head off more anti-Japanese demonstrations today and tomorrow, especially during a visit by Japan's foreign minister

  • AGENCIES
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  China warned the public against staging fresh protests when Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura visits this weekend in an attempt to head off a repeat of last week's violent anti-Japanese demonstrations.

  Thousands took part in protests in at least four Chinese cities last Saturday and Sunday, and Internet chatrooms, e-mails and mobile phone messages have been urging people to join a new round of protests in cities across China this weekend.

  Foreign missions, wary of possible violence after demonstrators threw rocks and eggs at Japanese diplomatic missions and attacked Japanese businesses last week cautioned their citizens about new protests.

  

  People's Liberation Army soldiers wait outside the Great Hall of the People at Tiananmen Square yesterday before attending a function inside. Major cities are gearing up for large-scale anti-Japanese protests this weekend.

  PHOTO: AFP

  The demonstrations, triggered by what many see as Japan's failure to own up to World War II atrocities, come at a time that Japan is seeking a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, a move that China firmly opposes.

  While last weekend's protests appeared to have had tacit state approval, the government appealed to demonstrators to avoid "extreme activities" and yesterday Beijing police warned against "unapproved or harmful" activities.

  "Any assemblies, protests and demonstrations should be approved by the public security organ," the China News Service quoted a Beijing police spokesman as saying.

  Unapproved and harmful activities were "illegal" and would be punished, it said.

  For its part, Japan pledged not to let a series of disputes with China hinder their broader relationship.

  "We must deepen mutual understanding and trust through dialogue and not allow individual issues to become an obstacle to the development of the overall Japan-China relationship," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in an annual diplomatic report.

  Machimura flies to Beijing tomorrow to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (李肇星) to try to stop squabbles over everything from gas exploration in disputed waters to Japan's treatment of its own history from escalating or hurting US$178 billion in trade.

  Tokyo, through the Japanese chamber of commerce in China, warned Japanese firms to be on guard against possible protests. Japanese diplomatic missions in China have also cautioned Japanese in China about the protests, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said.

  "It seems the Chinese side is making various efforts. I would like to monitor the situation," Hosoda told reporters.

  The Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, meanwhile, issued an annual report that accused China of threatening Japanese security in a series of incidents including illegal prospecting for oil in Japan's exclusive economic zone and an incursion into Japan's territorial waters.

  The report cited China's undersea resource explorations in disputed waters in the East China Sea and an incursion by a Chinese nuclear submarine in those waters last year, calling them "serious problems that threatened Japan's national security, sovereignty and other rights."

  However, despite such problems, it is important to build trust and understanding through dialogue, the report said.

  "Stability in Japan-China relations is crucial for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region," the report said. "And we agreed on the need for dialogue despite difference in opinions in specific areas."
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