Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara suggested in a lecture on Thursday that the Chinese in Tokyo be arrested and deported.

He claimed that most crimes in Tokyo were committed by "Zhina'' people and that local police worry that sooner or later these people will kidnap children of important Japanese peoples, the China News Service quoted Japanese media as saying.

Such talks reflects clear xenophobia. Anyone with any sense would reject Ishihara's assertion as groundless.

A metropolis such as Tokyo is attractive to people from all over the world as a place to live, work or study. Even if some local Chinese have been engaged in crime, how can that be used to back the proposal that all Chinese people living in Tokyo should be expelled? Or justify Ishihara's offensive and insulting words to the Chinese as a whole?

If some Japanese people living in Beijing broke the law, that would likewise be no justification for targetting all Japanese in the Chinese capital.

In his tirade, Ishihara freely used the term "Zhina,'' a derogatory Japanese name for China.

After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, "Zhina,'' a name the Japanese Government used to refer to China, began to have insulting connotations. The Japanese Government was eventually forced to abandon use of the term after it faced a protracted struggle by and representations from the Chinese Government and people.

A veteran politician such as Ishihara could not be unaware of what such a word means to the Chinese people. His talk can only be interpreted as a clear attempt to humiliate and provoke the Chinese people.

A closer look at the Tokyo governor will show it is not surprising that such words came from his mouth. Ishihara has long been trademarked as an ultra-nationalist and extreme right-winger for preaching the national superiority of the Japanese and whitewashing the war crimes committed by Japanese militarists during World War II.

Sino-Japanese relations have been developing soundly thanks to the unremitting efforts of both sides. We have every reason to cherish this hard-won friendly relationship.

Chinese people are friendly towards Japanese people, just as Japanese people are friendly towards China.

But extreme right-wingers such as Ishihara are sowing the seeds of hatred against Chinese people.

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