China yesterday warned ties with Japan were at a 30-year low and reiterated it would not apologize for widespread protests, but Japan said it saw no need to change its policy despite a "very uncomfortable situation."
As Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura held a second day of talks in Beijing, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei (
"There are serious difficulties between China and Japan at the moment. It is the most difficult time since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1972," he told reporters, blaming Japan's refusal to face its past record of aggression.
PHOTO: EPA
In contrast, Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima attempted to put a more positive spin on relations as he focused on economics at a press conference in the Chinese capital.
He added, however, that Chinese protesters who damaged Japanese property had created a "very uncomfortable situation."
Ties between East Asia's two most powerful nations have rapidly approached a nadir after Japan approved a nationalist textbook that glossed over wartime atrocities.
They have been further ruffled by Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Meanwhile, three out of every four Japanese voters believe Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has not done enough to improve long-strained relations with China and South Korea, according to a newspaper poll published yesterday.
Seventy-six percent of respondents to a poll of about 1,000 voters the Mainichi Shimbun on Saturday and Sunday said Koizumi had not done enough to mend ties with Japan's neighbors, both of which were occupied by Japan before and during World War II.
In Tokyo, shots were fired yesterday at a Chinese language school, hitting a door but causing no injuries, in the latest apparent backlash against violent anti-Japanese demonstrations in China, police and media said.
A razor blade with an anonymous note complaining about the protests also was delivered by mail last week to the Chinese consulate in Fukuoka the Kyodo News agency reported.
Police said they found several bullet holes in the glass door at the entrance of the Japan-China Friendship Center. Investigators also found several bullets at the site. Kyodo said the shooting was believed to be linked to the protests. Nobody claimed responsibility.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index closed down 3.80 percent yesterday amid the escalating tensions, ending at 10,938.44 points -- its lowest point since Dec. 16.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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