Japan ‘stole’ our islands: China tells UN
UNITED NATIONS: China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi sparked angry
exchanges with Japanese diplomats at the United Nations by accusing
Japan of stealing disputed islands. Chinese and Japanese envoys staged a
series of attacks during Thursday’s session after Yang heightened
tensions over the East China Sea islands and reopened old diplomatic
wounds over World War II.
The Japanese government’s purchase of the uninhabited islands from a
private owner this month has infuriated Beijing and set off violent
protests in several Chinese cities.
“China strongly urges Japan to immediately stop all activities that
violate China’s territorial sovereignty, take concrete actions to
correct its mistakes and return to the track of resolving the dispute
through negotiation,” Yang told the UN assembly.
China has demanded the return of the uninhabited islands, known as
the Diaoyus in Chinese and the Senkakus in Japanese, for decades. Taiwan
also claims the islands. Yang reaffirmed his country’s historical claim
that Japan tricked China into signing a treaty ceding the islands in
1895. Japan states that the islands were legally incorporated into its
territory.
“The moves taken by Japan are totally illegal and invalid. They can
in no way change the historical fact that Japan stole Diaoyu and its
affiliated islands from China and the fact that China has territorial
sovereignty over them,” said the Chinese minister.
Japan’s move was in “outright denial” of its defeat in World War II,
he added, reaffirming China’s repeated references to the 1939-45 war.
AFP |