Japan-China Dispute Worsens

Tokyo -- The Japan-China dispute which began with the arrest of a Chinese trawler captain near the Senkaku Islands on September 7th has shown no signs of moderating and, in fact, the bilateral atmosphere appears to be becoming more poisonous.

Today was the anniversary of the "Manchurian Incident" of 1931, which marked the first major territorial aggression against Republican China in the run-up to the Pacific War.

Protesters in several cities across China marked the day with anti-Japanese chants and banners.

Outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, a group of mostly young protestors held signs saying "Get Out of the Diaoyu Islands!" They also described Captain Zhan Qixiong as a Japanese "hostage."

Heavy rains and efforts by security forces to limit protests, however, kept the groups down to a small size.

Previous to these protests, the Japanese Embassy had notified Japanese tourists and Japanese residing in the country to "be on the alert" and to avoid "provocative actions" when dealing with the Chinese.

Meanwhile, new Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara is showing every indication that he intends to pour oil on the fire. He used his inaugural press conference to restate Tokyo's hard-line view that "no territorial dispute exists in the South China Sea," meaning that he believes that China or Taiwan have no claim whatsoever on the Senkaku (or Diaoyutai) Islands.

Maehara has a past history in which he has publicly described China as a "threat."

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