Gold9472
04-09-2005, 01:10 PM
Chinese protesters attack Japanese targets
Demonstrators angry over WWII, bid for Security Council seat
Greg Baker / AP
Updated: 10:03 a.m. ET April 9, 2005
BEIJING - Thousands of Chinese smashed windows and threw rocks at the Japanese embassy and ambassador’s residence in Beijing on Saturday in a protest against Japan’s wartime past and bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council.
Protesters pushed their way through a paramilitary police cordon to the gates of the residence of the Japanese ambassador, throwing rocks and water bottles and shouting “Japanese pig come out”.
Some 500 paramilitary police holding plastic shields raced into the compound and barricaded the gates, a Reuters witness said. Protesters threw stones and bricks at the residence, and shouted at police, “Chinese people shouldn’t protect Japanese.”
Demonstrators, who said they had been organized mostly through e-mail and instant messaging, had been marching peacefully under heavy police guard at various places in the capital. One group began throwing bottles and stones when they passed a Japanese restaurant, smashing windows with tiles they had ripped from its roof before police stopped them.
Protesters also attacked a Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi branch and smashed windows before police moved in.
Another group outside the embassy in southeast Beijing threw stones and plastic water bottles, smashing windows in the compound, a Reuters photographer said. Some demonstrators scuffled with police.
But by late afternoon most of the crowd at the embassy had dispersed, persuaded by police to board waiting buses to take them home.
Anti-Japanese sentiment has been running high in China since Japan on Tuesday approved a school textbook critics say whitewashes atrocities committed during World War II, and many Chinese feel the country has not owned up to its wartime aggression.
Large demonstrations rare
The demonstration started in the Beijing neighborhood of Zhongguancun, known for its electronics shops and home to a large student population, and comes less than a week after anti-Japanese protests in other Chinese cities turned violent.
“Japan doesn’t face up to its history,” said Cheng Lei, a 27-year-old information technology professional. “We want to express our feelings so the Japanese government knows what we think.”
Police declined to say how many protesters were on the streets, but the official Xinhua news agency put the number at more than 10,000. Onlookers thronged the streets, cheering on the demonstration and snapping photos as scores of police looked on.
Large scale protests are rare in China, where the Communist leadership is concerned about maintaining stability at a time of wrenching social change and a widening gap between rich and poor.
Past demonstrations outside the Japanese embassy have typically been heavily policed, choreographed events involving about 50 people, with short speeches, some singing and petitions or letters being presented to the mission.
Last week, protesters smashed windows at a Japanese supermarket in the southwestern city of Chengdu after a demonstration there against Japan’s bid for a permanent Security Council seat turned violent. Demonstrators also took to the streets in Guangzhou, Chongqing and the southern city of Shenzhen, where two Japanese department stores were vandalized.
Domestic media said 20 million Chinese had also signed an online petition opposing the bid for a seat.
Kicking a Toyota
Many Chinese harbor deep resentment of Japan’s wartime aggression and what they see as its failure to own up to atrocities.
“Across the country, the mood to refuse Japanese goods is high, but nothing has been done about this. Therefore, patriotic students have organized themselves,” said a notice circulated by e-mail on Friday urging people to protest.
On Saturday, the mostly student protesters carried signboards with lists of Japanese brand names crossed out and chanted slogans outside an electronics plaza urging the boycott.
Some wore red signs pasted to their chests bearing a traditional Chinese dragon and reading “Reject Japanese goods”. Others began kicking a Toyota car caught in the middle of the crowd before it managed to drive away.
Police guarded the entrance to the electronics plaza to stop demonstrators from pushing inside, and at least 20 police vans stood by to prevent the protest from escalating as the group chanted “Rise up, rise up, rise up."
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
Demonstrators angry over WWII, bid for Security Council seat
Greg Baker / AP
Updated: 10:03 a.m. ET April 9, 2005
BEIJING - Thousands of Chinese smashed windows and threw rocks at the Japanese embassy and ambassador’s residence in Beijing on Saturday in a protest against Japan’s wartime past and bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council.
Protesters pushed their way through a paramilitary police cordon to the gates of the residence of the Japanese ambassador, throwing rocks and water bottles and shouting “Japanese pig come out”.
Some 500 paramilitary police holding plastic shields raced into the compound and barricaded the gates, a Reuters witness said. Protesters threw stones and bricks at the residence, and shouted at police, “Chinese people shouldn’t protect Japanese.”
Demonstrators, who said they had been organized mostly through e-mail and instant messaging, had been marching peacefully under heavy police guard at various places in the capital. One group began throwing bottles and stones when they passed a Japanese restaurant, smashing windows with tiles they had ripped from its roof before police stopped them.
Protesters also attacked a Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi branch and smashed windows before police moved in.
Another group outside the embassy in southeast Beijing threw stones and plastic water bottles, smashing windows in the compound, a Reuters photographer said. Some demonstrators scuffled with police.
But by late afternoon most of the crowd at the embassy had dispersed, persuaded by police to board waiting buses to take them home.
Anti-Japanese sentiment has been running high in China since Japan on Tuesday approved a school textbook critics say whitewashes atrocities committed during World War II, and many Chinese feel the country has not owned up to its wartime aggression.
Large demonstrations rare
The demonstration started in the Beijing neighborhood of Zhongguancun, known for its electronics shops and home to a large student population, and comes less than a week after anti-Japanese protests in other Chinese cities turned violent.
“Japan doesn’t face up to its history,” said Cheng Lei, a 27-year-old information technology professional. “We want to express our feelings so the Japanese government knows what we think.”
Police declined to say how many protesters were on the streets, but the official Xinhua news agency put the number at more than 10,000. Onlookers thronged the streets, cheering on the demonstration and snapping photos as scores of police looked on.
Large scale protests are rare in China, where the Communist leadership is concerned about maintaining stability at a time of wrenching social change and a widening gap between rich and poor.
Past demonstrations outside the Japanese embassy have typically been heavily policed, choreographed events involving about 50 people, with short speeches, some singing and petitions or letters being presented to the mission.
Last week, protesters smashed windows at a Japanese supermarket in the southwestern city of Chengdu after a demonstration there against Japan’s bid for a permanent Security Council seat turned violent. Demonstrators also took to the streets in Guangzhou, Chongqing and the southern city of Shenzhen, where two Japanese department stores were vandalized.
Domestic media said 20 million Chinese had also signed an online petition opposing the bid for a seat.
Kicking a Toyota
Many Chinese harbor deep resentment of Japan’s wartime aggression and what they see as its failure to own up to atrocities.
“Across the country, the mood to refuse Japanese goods is high, but nothing has been done about this. Therefore, patriotic students have organized themselves,” said a notice circulated by e-mail on Friday urging people to protest.
On Saturday, the mostly student protesters carried signboards with lists of Japanese brand names crossed out and chanted slogans outside an electronics plaza urging the boycott.
Some wore red signs pasted to their chests bearing a traditional Chinese dragon and reading “Reject Japanese goods”. Others began kicking a Toyota car caught in the middle of the crowd before it managed to drive away.
Police guarded the entrance to the electronics plaza to stop demonstrators from pushing inside, and at least 20 police vans stood by to prevent the protest from escalating as the group chanted “Rise up, rise up, rise up."
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.