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Updated Sunday, October 17, 2010 11:22 pm TWN, By Miwa Suzuki TOKYO, AFP

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Thousands protest in China, Japan over island row

Japanese nationalist groups rallied on Saturday against China's “invasion” into disputed islands, as thousands demonstrated against Japan in three Chinese cities following the ugly territorial spat.

The tit-for-tat demonstrations each attracted at least 1,000 people despite moves by the two Asian giants to patch up a row sparked last month when Japan detained a Chinese fishing boat captain near the disputed islands.

In Tokyo, Japanese flags fluttered in a park as more than 1,000 people gathered for the second major rally since the maritime incident. Some later scuffled with men who tried to block their march through central Tokyo streets.

Banners carried such messages as “Japan is in danger!” and “Don't forgive invader China.”

As demonstrators left the park and started a march, two young men, believed to be Chinese, sat in the street to stop the rally.

One of their banners read: “Stop fuelling harassment towards Chinese residents in Japan”.

The two scuffled with Japanese nationalists and were dragged away by police officers. They were immediately released, according to police.

At the start of the rally, Asako Ogura, a lawyer who belongs to the conservative Sunrise Party, drew large cheers as she took up a microphone to claim China had been ungrateful to Japan.

“We Japanese have long extended official development assistance by using taxpayers' money, and the Chinese economy has grown to surpass the Japanese.

“But China used its economic power to build up its military and now demands we hand over Senkaku and Okinawa on the back of the military power,” she said.

“Our fathers and mothers boldly fought Western powers 60 years ago. Now let's fight the Chinese communists and their puppet government led by the Democratic Party of Japan!”

Organizers estimated the crowd at more than 3,200 people, and said Internet broadcasts of the event drew 10,000 viewers. The rally continued to the Chinese embassy, where demonstrators delivered a protest statement, organizers said.

At the center of the dispute — the most bitter row in years between Asia's two biggest economies — is a chain of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. The isles lie between Japan's Okinawa island and Taiwan.

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