Japan considers deporting arrested Chinese activists

After the protesters were held by Japanese authorities for landing on a disputed island, Japan has the option of repatriating the Chinese protesters or sending them to criminal court. The case has been rough on the bilateral relations between the countries.

|
Booby Yip/Reuters
Protesters chant slogans while tearing up Japan's military flag outside the Japanese embassy in Hong Kong on Thursday, after 14 Chinese activists were detained by the Japanese authorities at the Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands on Wednesday. The placard reads, "Down with Japanese militarism."

Japan is considering deporting 14 Chinese activists arrested for landing without authorization on disputed islands in the East China Sea, as harsh criticisms and repeated demands for their release erupted Thursday in China.

The protesters had traveled by boat from Hong Kong to the uninhabited islands controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. They were arrested Wednesday after five of them landed on one of the five-island group, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.

Decision on Friday

Japanese police and coast guard officials were questioning the protesters in Okinawa, a nearby island state. Coast guard officials said Japan has to decide whether to pursue criminal investigation or repatriate them by Friday night.

"We are considering various options, including a possibility of repatriation," said Coast Guard official Yoshiyuki Terakado. He said Japan will make a decision for all 14 people by Friday night, although he declined to elaborate. Japanese media reports said the activists are most likely to be deported.

Chinese activists last landed on the island in 1996, and seven who were arrested were repatriated quickly.

China's state media on Thursday said Japan's handling of the activists is hurting the bilateral relations and that China will engage in strong diplomacy with Japan.

"The real test of power comes in the diplomatic tussle between China and Japan after the landing," the state-run Global Times said in an editorial. "China should insist that any so-called lawful trial by Japan is unacceptable and that no concession shall be made."

Boycott of Japanese products

In Beijing, dozens of people rallied outside the Japanese embassy, demanding the protesters' release and chanting anti-Japanese slogans. The activists have also won overwhelming support online, and Chinese consumers started boycotting Japanese products.

In Hong Kong, supporters marched to a Japanese consulate building, demanding the activists' immediate release. Some of the participants burned Japanese flags.

China dispatched embassy officials from Tokyo and Hong Kong immigration officials to assist the activists. On Thursday, they met two of the detainees, who were "in good health and good spirits," activists' spokesman David Koh told Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK.

The handling of the arrested activists is extremely sensitive. Japan has the option of repatriating them or sending them to criminal court.

Japan's arrest and weekslong detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain in 2010 after his vessel collided with Japanese patrol boats near the disputed islands triggered the worst diplomatic dispute in years between the countries, prompting Beijing to suspend some exports and cancel high-level talks.

Patrol vessels

Japan says it has controlled the five main islands for more than 100 years. It has been trying to place four that are privately held under state ownership to bolster its territorial claim.

Chinese patrol vessels have been spotted frequently in the waters, prompting Tokyo to repeatedly protest and beef up its own patrols in the area.

The United States, Japan's key ally, said it would not take sides and urged calm among involved parties.

"We expect he claimants to resolve the issue through peaceful measures and any kind of provocations are not helpful in that regard," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Wednesday.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Japan considers deporting arrested Chinese activists
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0816/Japan-considers-deporting-arrested-Chinese-activists
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe