2008 Woodie Awards
World & Nation
Demonstrations in China Calling For Boycott of Japan, Tensions High
David Simon
Issue date: 4/15/05 Section: News
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ensions between China and Japan heightened again, as tens of thousands took to the streets in China last week to call for the boycott of Japanese goods. In Beijing, approximately 8,000 youngsters marched through the city's high-tech district, tearing signs off of Japanese shops and throwing stones at the Japanese embassy.
In Shenzhen, even more people demonstrated by burning Japanese flags. The events marked the largest public demonstration in China since 1999, when the U.S. Army accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. In response to the protests, Japan demanded an apology and compensation for the damages.
The protests were sparked by Chinese criticism of Japanese school textbooks.
China claims that Japanese students cannot learn the truth about the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s and 1940s and included the Rape of Nanking, in which the Japanese soldiers brutally killed several hundred thousand civilians.
Other issues added to the conflict, such as Japan's bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, a move that most Chinese consider unacceptable because of the unresolved historical issues. Japan's leaders, however, already apologized for past actions several times, yet these apologies are considered "half-hearted" by Beijing.
The series of verbal insults continued on Wednesday when Japan announced it would issue drilling rights for certain oil reserves under the East China Sea. The area, however, is claimed by both China and Japan.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gong called the event a "serious provocation to the rights of China." In response, Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi called for "discussing the conflict from a higher perspective," so that the countries could "turn the sea of conflict into a sea of coordination."
Serial Bomber Pleads Guilty
Eric Robert Rudolph admitted to a federal judge on Tuesday that he was responsible for several bombings between 1996 and 1998, including one during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta that killed one person and injured almost one hundred. The other attacks, which caused the death of another person and wounded 10, were against women's clinics and nightclubs.
In Shenzhen, even more people demonstrated by burning Japanese flags. The events marked the largest public demonstration in China since 1999, when the U.S. Army accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. In response to the protests, Japan demanded an apology and compensation for the damages.
The protests were sparked by Chinese criticism of Japanese school textbooks.
China claims that Japanese students cannot learn the truth about the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s and 1940s and included the Rape of Nanking, in which the Japanese soldiers brutally killed several hundred thousand civilians.
Other issues added to the conflict, such as Japan's bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, a move that most Chinese consider unacceptable because of the unresolved historical issues. Japan's leaders, however, already apologized for past actions several times, yet these apologies are considered "half-hearted" by Beijing.
The series of verbal insults continued on Wednesday when Japan announced it would issue drilling rights for certain oil reserves under the East China Sea. The area, however, is claimed by both China and Japan.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gong called the event a "serious provocation to the rights of China." In response, Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi called for "discussing the conflict from a higher perspective," so that the countries could "turn the sea of conflict into a sea of coordination."
Serial Bomber Pleads Guilty
Eric Robert Rudolph admitted to a federal judge on Tuesday that he was responsible for several bombings between 1996 and 1998, including one during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta that killed one person and injured almost one hundred. The other attacks, which caused the death of another person and wounded 10, were against women's clinics and nightclubs.