China protests Japan's Diaoyu Islands stance

By Li Xiaokun (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-28 08:29

China lodged yet another protest with Japan on Friday over Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone's remarks that the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between Japan and the United States was applicable to China's Diaoyu Islands as well.

According to reports by the Taiwan-based Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC), an official of the US State Department familiar with East Asian affairs told a press conference in Washington on Friday that the Diaoyu Islands were always under Japan's administrative jurisdiction. The Japan-US security treaty was applicable to these islands as well, it quoted him as saying.

Nakasone echoed the US official's remarks afterwards.

However, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu rejected Nakasone's remarks later in a press release. He said the Japan-US security treaty should not harm the interests of third parties, including China.

"Any words and deeds that bring the Diaoyu Islands into the scope of the Japan-US Mutual Cooperation and Security Treaty are absolutely unacceptable to the Chinese people," he said.

Ma reiterated that the Diaoyu Islands and adjacent islets had been Chinese territories since ancient times and China held "indisputable" sovereignty over the islands.

"We have lodged stern representations to Japan again and require the United States to clarify reports on the issue," he said.

He also urged the two countries to understand the great sensitivity of the Diaoyu Islands issue and act with discretion so as to avoid damage to the general interests of China-Japan and China-US relations and regional stability.

Chinese experts said Japan's toughened stance on the Diaoyu Islands will cast a shadow over its foreign minister's two-day visit to Beijing that starts on Saturday.

The provocative remarks made by Japan are also likely to affect future high-level exchanges, they said.

On Thursday, Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso said in parliament that the Diaoyu Islands are Japanese territory and protected under the Japan-US security treaty. It was the first time a Japanese prime minister had made such a remark.

Liu Jiangyong, an expert in Japanese studies at Tsinghua University, said Japan's tough stance will definitely be one of the topics during the meetings between Nakasone and Chinese leaders.

Nakasone's visit will be his first to China since he took office in September. He is scheduled to meet Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

Other topics for discussion are likely to be the strained situation on the Korean Peninsula and "arrangements for Taro Aso's visit to China in the near future", Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported.

Feng Zhaokui, a scholar in Japanese studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Japan's provocative remarks will affect high-level visits in the future.

Kyodo said the two foreign ministers will talk about a visit to Japan by Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee's Political Bureau, around March 28. Japan's Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada is also likely to visit China in the near future, it said.

Xinhua contributed to the story