Determined to defend Diaoyu Islands ( 2003-10-10 01:53) (China Daily)
China Thursday reaffirmed sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands in the East
China Sea - and its "unswerving" determination to defend the country's lands.
A ship, carrying 10
activists from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, tries to land at Diaoyu
Island in the East China Sea Thursday. But the attempt failed after
Japan's Coast Guard used eight boats to repeatedly ram the Chinese vessel,
forcing the activists to turn away in their damaged ship. [China Daily HK
Edition]
The island and its adjacent islets "have been an integral part of China's
territory since ancient times," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhang Qiyue told a
regular news briefing.
"The determination of the Chinese Government and people to safeguard national
sovereignty and territorial integrity is unswerving."
She made the remark as activists hoping to plant the Chinese flag on the
island were turned away Thursday by Japan's Coast Guard.
The Japanese used two patrol boats to sandwich the vessel carrying 10
activists from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan to prevent them from
landing on the island.
A spokesman for the activists, Ku Kwai-yiu, said that the Japanese used eight
boats to repeatedly ram the Chinese boat and damaged it. The activists finally
turned around, said Ku, who was monitoring the situation from Hong Kong.
Japan Coast Guard spokesman, Kiyoshi Kawamura, had said earlier that his side
was "determined to stop their landing by all means". In June, a boat carrying 15
activists from the mainland and Hong Kong tried to approach the islands but was
turned back by the Japan Coast Guard.
After the confrontation yesterday, both sides agreed there had been no
injuries.
The activists, who set out early yesterday from the port of Xiamen, in East
China's Fujian Province, had said they might try to get to the islands by diving
underwater.
They wanted to use their action to safeguard the "sacred sovereignty of the
Chinese nation over the islands" and counter the brazen provocative acts by
right-wing Japanese groups who used "numerous visits" to the island and its
surrounding islets to claim sovereignty, the sohu.com website reported.
Japan claimed the Chinese island chain in 1895 after a war with China, then
under the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) rule, and it tightly controls access to the
area.
The latest move by Chinese activists to claim sovereignty over the islands
drew widespread support and respect from netizens, who left tens of thousands of
messages praising their "brave acts" and condemning the Japanese Coast Guard's
interception of the Chinese boat.
Some demanded a stronger reaction from the Chinese Government.
"Each time when Chinese attempt to land on the island, they are blocked by
Japanese gunboats and choppers," read one message on sohu website. "But as
Japanese extremists set foot on the island, where are our gunboats and
choppers?"
But Zhang Qiyue said that it has been Beijing's consistent position to solve
the dispute between China and Japan over the island chain through consultation.
"There has been no change of China's stance in this regard," she said.
Turning to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's expressed intent to
revisit the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Zhang said China hopes Japan can adopt an
ethical view towards history.
The Yasukuni Shrine is seen as a symbol of Japan's militarism. Among those
honoured there are 14 people designated as Class A war criminals by the Allies
in trials that followed World War II.