Sino-Japanese ceremony postponed
China announced on Sunday that the date for the reception marking the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations will be postponed to "a proper time," following escalating tensions between the two countries caused by the Japanese government's "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands.
"The Japanese government disregarded the strong opposition of China and insisted on illegally purchasing the Diaoyu Islands, which has severely hurt China-Japan relations and undermined the atmosphere of the celebration of the anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations," said an anonymous officials from the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the China-Japan Friendship Association, cited by Xinhua.
The celebration had been scheduled to take place in Beijing on Thursday. China had planned to invite seven Japanese friendship groups to visit the country and hold talks with Tang Jiaxuan, head of the China-Japan Friendship Association and former foreign minister, to celebrate the anniversary, Japanese reports said.
Several Chinese patrol ships were still in the waters near the Diaoyu Islands on Sunday, Kyodo News reported. Law enforcement ships have been patrolling these waters to assert China's sovereignty over the past few days since Japan announced its "nationalization" of the islands.
China on Saturday urged the Japanese government to stop all acts that infringe upon China's territorial sovereignty, after a dozen Japanese coast guard and police officers landed on the Diaoyu Islands on Friday.
"It is a severe infringement upon China's territorial sovereignty, and the Chinese government has lodged solemn representations and strong protests to the Japanese government," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Saturday.
Hong said the Japanese landed on the Diaoyu Islands Friday evening on the pretext of preventing Taiwanese activists from landing on them.
The Chinese embassy in Japan on Saturday also lodged a solemn representation to the Japanese government after hundreds of right-wing activists in Japan held a demonstration against China over the escalating island row.
Despite the soaring tensions between the two nations, former Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka expressed regret over the deteriorating bilateral relations, criticizing certain politicians in his country for wrongly dealing with the Diaoyu Islands issue.
"As a Japanese, I feel disgraced. I feel terribly bad for the Chinese people and I want to express my sincere apologies to them," Nonaka, who has long been dedicating efforts to boosting Sino-Japanese relations, said in a recent interview with Chinese media.
Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the opposition party New Komeito, expressed his willingness to assist the Japanese government in repairing fractured China-Japan relations.
Geng Xin, deputy director of the Tokyo-based Japan-China Communication Institute, warned the Japanese government to stop provocative activities such as dispatching public security officials to the Diaoyu Islands, which might further damage bilateral relations.
"It is important to launch top-level dialogue between the Chinese and Japanese governments in solving the Diaoyu Islands issue," Geng said.
The territorial row has also affected economic ties between the two countries. Airline companies in China have canceled or cut flights to Japan recently due to the declining number of domestic tourists going to Japan as a result of deteriorating ties.
"The ongoing deteriorating relationship might result in further economic sanctions on the Japanese government, and might have a negative influence on the economic development of both countries," Yang Ling, a Japan expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times, calling on both governments to calm down and launch talks to resolve the issue.
In a separate development, Taiwan activists held a large-scale demonstration Sunday afternoon in Taipei against the Japanese government's purchase of the Diaoyu Islands. More than 60 fishing boats will set out from Taiwan Monday to assert sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands on Tuesday, according to Taiwan media.
Agencies contributed to this story
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