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发帖数: 358 | 1 Beijing demonstrators damage US ambassador's car
By DIDI TANG | Associated Press – 1 hr 44 mins ago
BEIJING (AP) — A car carrying the U.S. ambassador to China was mildly
damaged after becoming the target of boisterous anti-Japan demonstrators who
were expressing outrage over a territorial dispute and marking the 81st
anniversary of Japan's invasion of China.
The State Department said in a statement Wednesday that Ambassador Gary
Locke was unhurt in Tuesday's incident, and that diplomats have expressed
concerns to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The statement said around 50 protesters surrounded Locke's car as he tried
to enter the embassy and were eventually removed by Chinese security
personnel.
The incident comes amid heightened vigilance for American diplomats
following violent attacks on U.S. embassies in Libya, Yemen and Egypt. The
statement said embassy officials have asked the Chinese government to do
everything possible to protect American facilities and personnel.
People across China have engaged in days of furious protests over some East
China Sea islands, claimed by Beijing and Tokyo, that Japan purchased last
week from a private owner. The U.S., a close ally of Japan, has said it is
staying out of the dispute, but it also been the target of Chinese anger.
On Tuesday the dispute mixed with remembrances of a 1931 incident that Japan
used as a pretext to invade Manchuria, setting off a brutal occupation of
China that ended only at the close of World War II. China marks every Sept.
18 by blowing sirens, but demonstrations such as those seen Tuesday are not
routine.
Thousands of protesters marched in front of the Japanese Embassy, with some
burning Japanese flags and throwing apples, water bottles and eggs. The
daylong demonstration periodically spilled over to the nearby U.S. Embassy.
The islands are tiny rock outcroppings that have been a sore point between
China and Japan for decades. Japan has claimed the islands since 1895. The U
.S. took jurisdiction after World War II and turned them over to Japan in
1972.
The disagreement escalated last week when the Japanese government said it
was purchasing some of the islands from their private owner. Japan considers
it an attempt to thwart a potentially more inflammatory move by the
governor of Tokyo, who had wanted not only to buy the islands but develop
them. But Beijing sees Japan's purchase as an affront to its claims and its
past calls for negotiations.
Beijing has sent patrol ships inside Japanese-claimed waters around the
islands, and some state media have urged Chinese to show their patriotism by
boycotting Japanese goods and canceling travel to Japan. |
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