Japan orders Tokyo not to land on Diaoyu
Source: Agencies |
August 28, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Japanese government yesterday refused to let Tokyo metropolitan authorities land on the Diaoyu Islands at the center of a dispute with China, a move aimed at defusing tensions that led to the biggest anti-Japan protests in years.
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara has proposed buying the islands from their private Japanese owners and sought central government permission to send a team of officials to survey the land.
The plan prompted Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to suggest that the central government could instead buy the islands it now leases. But both plans sparked outrage in China.
"The government has reached a conclusion of not permitting landing based on the purpose of its lease," a government official said.
The decision comes after anti-Japanese demonstrations in some Chinese cities over the weekend. They followed much bigger protests a week earlier.
The Japanese Embassy in Beijing said a car carrying the ambassador was stopped by a man who ripped the Japanese flag from the vehicle.
It said Uichiro Niwa was returning to the embassy yesterday when his official car was stopped by two other vehicles. It said a man jumped out of one of the vehicles and pulled the flag off the front of Niwa's car, damaging the flagpole.
The ambassador was unhurt.
Japan's Foreign Ministry later said the flag was snatched after the ambassador's car had become stuck in a traffic jam.
The Chinese foreign ministry said last night it was conducting a "serious investigation" into the incident and that the Chinese government has consistently fulfilled its international obligation to protext teh safety of foreign embassies and personnel.
Tensions over the Diaoyu Islands flared earlier this month, when Chinese activists who landed on one of the islands were detained in Japan.
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara has proposed buying the islands from their private Japanese owners and sought central government permission to send a team of officials to survey the land.
The plan prompted Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to suggest that the central government could instead buy the islands it now leases. But both plans sparked outrage in China.
"The government has reached a conclusion of not permitting landing based on the purpose of its lease," a government official said.
The decision comes after anti-Japanese demonstrations in some Chinese cities over the weekend. They followed much bigger protests a week earlier.
The Japanese Embassy in Beijing said a car carrying the ambassador was stopped by a man who ripped the Japanese flag from the vehicle.
It said Uichiro Niwa was returning to the embassy yesterday when his official car was stopped by two other vehicles. It said a man jumped out of one of the vehicles and pulled the flag off the front of Niwa's car, damaging the flagpole.
The ambassador was unhurt.
Japan's Foreign Ministry later said the flag was snatched after the ambassador's car had become stuck in a traffic jam.
The Chinese foreign ministry said last night it was conducting a "serious investigation" into the incident and that the Chinese government has consistently fulfilled its international obligation to protext teh safety of foreign embassies and personnel.
Tensions over the Diaoyu Islands flared earlier this month, when Chinese activists who landed on one of the islands were detained in Japan.
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