Riots erupt in China over disputed island’s gas reserves

The Nikkei business newspaper said on Sunday that demonstrators had earlier attacked two Panasonic electronic parts plants in the eastern cities of Qingdao and Suzhou.

Toyota vehicle dealerships were also set on fire and many vehicles were damaged, it said, citing Toyota’s China unit.

In the biggest flare-up, police fired tear gas and used water cannon to repel thousands of protesters occupying a street in the southern city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong.

The protests erupted in Beijing and many other cities on Saturday, when demonstrators besieged the Japanese embassy, hurling rocks, eggs and bottles, and testing cordons of police.

Demonstrators have looted shops and attacked Japanese cars and restaurants in at least five Chinese cities. Protesters also broke into a dozen Japanese-run factories in the eastern city of Qingdao on Saturday, according to the Japanese broadcaster NHK.

[EF!J Editor’s note: While an absurd nationalism seemed undeniably present in these riots, it can also not be denied that there is a militant environmental movement growing in China, which we have also reported on throughout this year. We can only hope that people are taking the opportunity to prioritize attacking corporate and industrial targets.]

The protests, the latest setback in long-troubled relations between Beijing and Tokyo, followed Japan’s decision on Tuesday to buy the disputed islands, which Tokyo calls the Senkaku and Beijing calls the Diaoyu and which could contain valuable gas reserves, from a private Japanese owner.

Beijing called that decision a provocative violation of its sovereignty.

China may have unleashed the protests to put pressure on Japan, but the government also risks a backlash from that same public anger ahead of a delicate leadership succession.

Many demonstrators in Beijing held aloft portraits of Mao Zedong, the late revolutionary leader who is still a patriotic icon but one who can also serve as an implicit rebuke to present-day leaders.

“We think that the government has been too soft and we want to show it what we think,” said one 25-year-old protester, salesman Zhang Xin. “I feel disappointed in the government and it doesn’t heed our voice.”

A six-deep cordon of anti-riot police guarded the Japanese embassy in Beijing as demonstrators resumed their protest on Sunday, screaming slogans and insults as they passed by and throwing plastic bottles full of water.

“If Japan does not back down we must go to war. The Chinese people are not afraid,” said 19-year-old-student Shao Jingru.

Dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who walked by Sunday’s protest in Beijing, said he believed the demonstrations were sanctioned by the government and the police.

“Chinese citizens need to thank the Japanese government because for the first time, they can mount a large protest on their own land,” Ai said. “In China, there are no protests organised by the people.”

Police used loud speakers to tell protesters — many of whom were shouting “declare war” — that they should respect the law.

In Shanghai, about 1,500 people marched towards the Japanese consulate, where they were allowed to enter cordoned-off areas in small groups.

Police headed off a crowd of at least 2,000 protesters who were trying to charge the US consulate in the south-western city of Chengdu. Protesters said they wanted the United States “to listen to their voices”.

“Do you realise what the Japanese are doing? Why are you beating your fellow Chinese?” Chengdu protesters shouted at the police after some of their number were roughed up.

The flare-up has come while Asia’s two biggest economies focus on domestic political pressures, narrowing the room for diplomatic give-and-take. Noda’s government faces an election in months, adding pressure on him not to look weak on China.

China’s ruling Communist Party is preoccupied with a leadership turnover, with President Hu Jintao due to step down as party leader at a congress that could open as soon as next month. While the public indignation against Japan could help to foster unity, it has also exposed widespread public impatience for a tougher line from Beijing.

Chinese state media has praised “rational” expressions of anger but warned that violence could backfire against Beijing.

Despite their deepening economic ties, China and Japan have long been at odds over bitter memories of Japan’s military aggression in the 1930s and 1940s. Relations chilled in 2010 after Japan arrested a Chinese trawler captain whose boat collided with Japanese coastguard vessels near the islands.

The protests could continue for days yet. On Tuesday, China marks its official September 18 memorial day for Japan’s war-time occupation of parts of China.

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