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Japan accused of stealing Diaoyu Islands from China
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
September 29, 2012, Saturday
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CHINESE Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has called on Japan to stop violating China's territorial sovereignty, and accused it of stealing the Diaoyu Islands.
At the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday night, Yang said: "China strongly urges Japan to immediately stop all activities that violate China's territorial sovereignty, take concrete actions to correct its mistakes, and return to the track of resolving the dispute through negotiation."
Yang also condemned Japan's "purchase" of the islands earlier this month from a so-called private owner. "The moves taken by Japan are totally illegal and invalid," he said. "They can in no way change the historical fact that Japan stole the Diaoyu and affiliated islands and that China has sovereignty over them."
He added: "The Diaoyu and its affiliated islands have been an integral part of China's territory since ancient times. China has indisputable historical and legal evidence in this regard."
He said Japan seized the islands in 1895 at the end of the Sino-Japanese War and forced the then Chinese government to sign an unequal treaty to cede the islands and other Chinese territories.
After World War II, the Diaoyu Islands and other Chinese territories occupied by Japan were returned to China in accordance with the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and other international documents.
The Chinese foreign minister said that, by taking such unilateral actions as the so-called "island purchase," the Japanese government had grossly violated China's sovereignty.
"This is an outright denial of the outcomes of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and poses a grave challenge to the post-war international order and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations," he said.
'Colonial mentality'
"The Chinese government is firm in upholding China's territorial sovereignty," he added.
Japan's deputy ambassador, Kazuo Kodama, said at the end of the assembly session that "there is no issue of territorial sovereignty to be resolved."
"There is no doubt that the islands are an inherent territory of Japan based on historical facts and international law," Kodama said.
China's UN Ambassador Li Baodong then accused Japan of having an "obsolete colonial mentality." Li said Japan's so-called purchase was no different to money laundering, accusing Tokyo of buying stolen property.
Li asked Japan to "discard illusions, stop day-dreaming, honor its international obligations, take concrete measures to redress its mistakes and stop all acts that violate China's sovereignty."
In Beijing yesterday, China's assistant foreign minister, Le Yucheng, told a forum on the 40th anniversary of China-Japan diplomatic ties that the island purchase decision was "like lobbing an atom bomb at China."
"If Japan continues to act erroneously despite advice to the contrary and keeps going down the wrong path, then Sino-Japanese relations could sink like the Titanic," Le said.
In a further sign of economic fallout from the dispute, Chinese buyers and Japanese sellers of refined copper have postponed agreement on terms for 2013 shipments.
Chinese and Japanese companies failed to reach a deal in talks this week, even though Japanese sellers were willing to cut price premiums by about 10 percent from last year, a Chinese executive said.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged China and Japan to let "cool heads" prevail.
Clinton met Yang in New York and said it was important to cool the issue over the islands that has soured ties between Asia's two largest economies.
At the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday night, Yang said: "China strongly urges Japan to immediately stop all activities that violate China's territorial sovereignty, take concrete actions to correct its mistakes, and return to the track of resolving the dispute through negotiation."
Yang also condemned Japan's "purchase" of the islands earlier this month from a so-called private owner. "The moves taken by Japan are totally illegal and invalid," he said. "They can in no way change the historical fact that Japan stole the Diaoyu and affiliated islands and that China has sovereignty over them."
He added: "The Diaoyu and its affiliated islands have been an integral part of China's territory since ancient times. China has indisputable historical and legal evidence in this regard."
He said Japan seized the islands in 1895 at the end of the Sino-Japanese War and forced the then Chinese government to sign an unequal treaty to cede the islands and other Chinese territories.
After World War II, the Diaoyu Islands and other Chinese territories occupied by Japan were returned to China in accordance with the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and other international documents.
The Chinese foreign minister said that, by taking such unilateral actions as the so-called "island purchase," the Japanese government had grossly violated China's sovereignty.
"This is an outright denial of the outcomes of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and poses a grave challenge to the post-war international order and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations," he said.
'Colonial mentality'
"The Chinese government is firm in upholding China's territorial sovereignty," he added.
Japan's deputy ambassador, Kazuo Kodama, said at the end of the assembly session that "there is no issue of territorial sovereignty to be resolved."
"There is no doubt that the islands are an inherent territory of Japan based on historical facts and international law," Kodama said.
China's UN Ambassador Li Baodong then accused Japan of having an "obsolete colonial mentality." Li said Japan's so-called purchase was no different to money laundering, accusing Tokyo of buying stolen property.
Li asked Japan to "discard illusions, stop day-dreaming, honor its international obligations, take concrete measures to redress its mistakes and stop all acts that violate China's sovereignty."
In Beijing yesterday, China's assistant foreign minister, Le Yucheng, told a forum on the 40th anniversary of China-Japan diplomatic ties that the island purchase decision was "like lobbing an atom bomb at China."
"If Japan continues to act erroneously despite advice to the contrary and keeps going down the wrong path, then Sino-Japanese relations could sink like the Titanic," Le said.
In a further sign of economic fallout from the dispute, Chinese buyers and Japanese sellers of refined copper have postponed agreement on terms for 2013 shipments.
Chinese and Japanese companies failed to reach a deal in talks this week, even though Japanese sellers were willing to cut price premiums by about 10 percent from last year, a Chinese executive said.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged China and Japan to let "cool heads" prevail.
Clinton met Yang in New York and said it was important to cool the issue over the islands that has soured ties between Asia's two largest economies.
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