China offers to repair Japan embassy

Beijing has offered to repair the Japanese embassy in Beijing that was damaged in a violent anti-Japan protest, a mission spokesman says, but there was no word of compensation.

Beijing has witnessed three weekends of anti-Japan protests

China has witnessed three weekends of violent anti-Japan protests against a controversial Japanese school textbook that China says whitewashes Japan‘s wartime history. 

 

Protesters are also against Tokyo‘s bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat.

 

More than 20 windows were broken at the embassy when thousands of demonstrators converged on 9 April, a Japanese embassy spokesman said on Tuesday, adding that a company under China‘s Foreign Ministry had offered to do the repair work.

 

Asked if Japan was being compensated for the damage to its facilities, the spokesman said: “Not exactly.”

 

“They (the Foreign Ministry-affiliated company) offered to fix the damage,” he said. “My colleagues in Tokyo are thinking of how to respond to this offer.”

 

Residence attacked

 

The Japanese ambassador’s residence several kilometres away was also attacked, with windows broken and what the embassy spokesman described as “communications equipment” damaged.

 

Demonstrators last weekend damaged the Japanese consulate in Shanghai, smashing windows, chucking eggs, tomatoes and paint at the building, and damaging nearby cars.

 

About 20,000 anti-Japanese protesters marched in south China
About 20,000 anti-Japanese protesters marched in south China

About 20,000 anti-Japanese
protesters marched in south China

The embassy spokesman said Japan was waiting for China to respond to a request for compensation for the damage to its missions.

 

The Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment, and the Diplomatic Services Bureau, which manages diplomatic property in China, declined to comment.

 

In Shanghai, more than 20 restaurants and stores were vandalised, a diplomatic source familiar with the matter said.

 

“We have heard from a few shops, who tell us they’ve received monetary compensation from the Shanghai authorities. But there’s no way of telling if these shops are Japanese or Chinese-owned,” he said.

 

Several Japanese restaurants were also attacked in Beijing and elsewhere.

 

Reprisals

 

Japanese police said on Tuesday they had recorded 25 attacks against Chinese interests since major anti-Japanese demonstrations broke out in China this month.

 

Of the 25 suspected reprisals, the National Police Agency said 14 were directed at Chinese diplomatic facilities with 11 against Chinese business, cultural or educational organisations.

 

Protests were sparked over a controversial Japanese textbook
Protests were sparked over a controversial Japanese textbook

Protests were sparked over a
controversial Japanese textbook

The agency tracked the records of anti-China attacks from 9 April to Monday.

 

Jiji Press, citing police sources, said the Chinese embassy in Tokyo received bomb threats twice last week. A police spokesman declined to confirm the report.

 

On Monday, the glass entrance of a Chinese exchange school in Tokyo was damaged by small steel balls while in Kanagawa, south of Tokyo, the window of an office that helps Chinese trainees was broken by two pinballs.

 

China said on Monday its ties with Japan were at their lowest since formal links were established in 1972.

Source: News Agencies