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Japanese firms halt China operations after protests
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Sept 17, 2012

China mission to disputed islands 'successful': Xinhua
Beijing (AFP) Sept 17, 2012 - A Chinese surveillance mission to a disputed islands chain was "successful" in asserting Beijing's sovereignty claim, state media said Monday, following huge anti-Japanese rallies across China.

Two Chinese surveillance ship fleets arrived at the islands -- called Senkaku in Japan, and Diaoyu in China -- on Friday for "law enforcement" in the area, after Tokyo had nationalised the disputed archipelago days earlier.

The visit "demonstrated China's jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets, achieved the goal of demonstrating China's sovereignty claim and ensured the country's maritime interests," Xiao Huiwu, deputy head of China Marine Surveillance told Xinhua, the state-run news agency reported Monday.

Tokyo had on Friday summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest what it insisted was an incursion into territorial waters around islands it controls.

In response China maintained the six boats that made up the surveillance mission were patrolling sovereign territory.

Xiao also told Xinhua the CMS agency will "step up law enforcement activities around disputed islands to demonstrate China's sovereignty, stop infringements and protect China's maritime interests."

Japan's coastguard on Friday said the ships were in the area around the islands for about seven hours.

On Sunday massive anti-Japanese demonstrations were held in cities across China, with thousands mounting protests a day after an attempt to storm Tokyo's embassy in the capital.

Beijing was infuriated last week when Japan said it had bought the rocky outcrops and while the authorities often suppress demonstrations, many of Sunday's events took place with police escorting marchers, as state-run media called the protests "reasonable".


Major Japanese firms including Canon and Honda suspended operations at several plants in China, officials and reports said Monday, on the eve of an expected fresh wave of anti-Japan demonstrations.

Beijing and Tokyo, the world's second and third-largest economies, are at loggerheads over disputed islands, prompting US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to express Washington's concern over the demonstrations and the conflict.

After meetings in Tokyo with senior Japanese officials, Panetta -- who later travelled on to Beijing -- urged "calm and restraint on all sides", a day after warning "misjudgment on one side or the other could result in violence".

Panetta, in a three-day visit to China, was due to deliver his appeal to the country's top civilian and military figures, including the Chinese leader-in-waiting, Vice President Xi Jinping.

Widespread anti-Japanese protests, some of them violent, have been held across China in recent days over the East China Sea islands known as Diaoyu by Beijing and Senkaku by Tokyo. They are claimed by both but controlled by Japan.

A new bout of demonstrations is expected on Tuesday, the anniversary of the 1931 "Mukden incident" that led to Japan's invasion of Manchuria, which is commemorated every year in China.

China and Japan have close trade and business ties, with numerous Japanese companies investing in their larger neighbour and two-way trade totalling $342.9 billion last year, according to Chinese figures.

But the two countries' political relationship is often tense due to the territorial dispute and Chinese resentment over past conflicts and atrocities.

Camera and computer printer maker Canon said it had suspended operations at three plants in southern and eastern China for Monday and Tuesday "to ensure the safety of all of our employees working there".

Panasonic said it was halting work at a factory in Qingdao in northeast China "for the time being" after a fire.

Honda Motor and Mazda Motor both announced a halt to operations at their auto assembly plants in China, the Kyodo News agency said.

Honda will suspend operations at its five vehicle assembly plants on Tuesday and Wednesday, company officials were quoting as saying, saying the move was aimed at adjusting shipments.

Mazda plans to close its vehicle assembly plant in Nanjing until Friday, Mazda officials said.

China is Japan's biggest trading partner and the stoppages came as the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece warned Japan's economy could suffer for up to 20 years if Beijing chose to impose sanctions over the territorial row.

A financial spat between the countries could cast a pall over growth on the continent, which the West is counting on to drive recovery from the global slowdown.

The row over the islands intensified last week when the Japanese government bought three of them, effectively nationalising them, and China responded by sending patrol ships to nearby waters.

According to the Kyodo news agency, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Monday told national broadcaster NHK: "We need to take a cool-headed approach to avoid negative impacts on overall (relations).

"Japan will try (to exercise restraint), and we need to strongly call on China for restraint."

The US has a mutual defence treaty with Japan and Panetta told reporters earlier in the day in Tokyo that Washington's commitment to the arrangement was unwavering.

"Obviously we stand by our treaty obligations. They are longstanding, and that does not change," he said.

But he added that the United States as a matter of policy does not take a position on the territorial dispute.

"It's in everybody's interest for Japan and China to maintain good relations and to find a way to avoid further escalation," he said, pounding a podium for emphasis.

In Beijing, about 100 protesters in two groups gathered at the Japanese embassy amid heavy security, marching back and forth past the building and occasionally throwing water bottles at it, while a helicopter buzzed overhead.

The embassy urged its citizens to take safety precautions including not going out alone and not speaking loudly in Japanese, consular official Keiji Kamei told AFP.

A commentary in the People's Daily newspaper on the possibility of economic sanctions said: "Amidst a struggle that touches on territorial sovereignty, if Japan continues its provocations China will inevitably take on the fight."

Shares of Chinese companies with business ties to Japanese firms fell in trading in Shanghai as investors sold on worries that the territorial dispute could hurt demand for their products.

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Japan PM calls on China to ensure safety of citizens
Tokyo (AFP) Sept 16, 2012 - Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Sunday called on China to ensure the safety of Japanese people and businesses amid a growing territorial row that has seen the spread of anti-Japan demonstrations.

His comments came as thousands of protestors gathered outside Japan's embassy in Beijing, a day after angry demonstrators tried to storm the building.

The rumbling territorial dispute reached a new level during the week when Japan announced that it had bought islands in the East China Sea which it administers and calls Senkaku, but which China claims and calls Diaoyu.

Anti-Japan demonstrations spread to 50 Chinese cities Saturday, Japanese reports said, with attacks on Japanese businesses, cars and restaurants.

"This situation is a great disappointment and so we are protesting (to China)," Noda told Fuji Television.

"We want (China) to oversee the situation so that at least Japanese citizens and businesses in China will not be in danger."

Noda stressed the importance for both countries to "behave with restraint".

"We are the number two and number three economies in the world, and China's development is in Japan's interest," he said.

"I believe we can overcome the problem if we keep in mind the broader viewpoint (of the bilateral ties)."

In Qingdao in northeastern China, 10 factories connected to Japanese businesses including Panasonic were targeted by protesters Saturday, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported, citing the Japanese embassy in China as a source.

There were arson attacks and production lines were destroyed, the newspaper said, and a supermarket outlet run by Japan's Aeon was looted.

Japanese media slammed the attacks as "beyond the pale".

"The Chinese government should stop provocative actions and call for restraints to its own people," the influential Asahi Shimbun said.

Often testy Japan-China ties took a turn for the worse in August when pro-Beijing activists landed on one of the disputed islands.

They were arrested by Japanese authorities and deported. Days later about a dozen Japanese nationalists raised their country's flag on the same island, Uotsurijima, prompting protests in cities across China.

Six Chinese ships sailed into waters around the archipelago Friday, with Beijing saying they were there for "law enforcement", leading Tokyo to summon the Chinese ambassador to protest what it insisted was a territorial incursion.



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Pentagon chief to meet China's leader-in-waiting
Aboard A Us Military Aircraft (AFP) Sept 17, 2012
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is due to meet China's leader-in-waiting, Vice President Xi Jinping, during a visit to Beijing this week, officials said Monday. Xi appeared in public for the first time in two weeks on Saturday after dropping from public view this month, setting off intense speculation about his health and political future. Panetta was scheduled to hold talks with Xi on ... read more


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