LEAD: China activists protest at Japan embassy over isle dispute

Asian Political News, Feb 22, 2005

BEIJING, Feb. 15 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATES)

Around 60 Chinese activists protested at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday over the Japanese government's assumption of ownership of a lighthouse built by Japanese nationalists on one of the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

Members of the China Federation for Defending the Diaoyu Islands yelled slogans, displayed banners, and waved flags on a street outside the embassy, which was closed for the Lunar New Year holiday week.

As police blocked the street to normal traffic and took photos of the half-hour demonstration, protesters also gave speeches demanding that Japan ''roll out'' of the five islands under its control, which are called the Diaoyu Islands in China.

The lighthouse acquisition ''means they have taken over the island,'' protest speaker Wang Jinsi said. ''The Chinese people must win...The Japanese invaders must die,'' he said.

Last Wednesday, the Japanese government notified China it has taken over ownership of the lighthouse on Uotsuri Island, the largest of the five uninhabited Senkaku islets, from nationalists who built it in 1978 and had maintained and managed it since then.

From now on, the Japan Coast Guard will handle the lighthouse's maintenance and management.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry lodged a formal complaint with the Japanese Embassy on Wednesday and has blasted Japan's move as a ''serious provocation and violation of China's territorial sovereignty.''

At the embassy, banners demanded Japan end its ''insult'' to China by leaving the islands and urged Chinese people to boycott Japanese products.

Despite snowy weather, most protesters wore red and white T-shirts asking Japan to ''roll out.''

''In China, we have struggled through more than 50 years of insults, so we really care a lot about territorial issues,'' protest speaker Lu Yunfei said, referring to Japan's invasion of China before World War II and the widespread perception that it has failed to adequately apologize for its past militarism.

Protesters said they wanted someone from the embassy to receive their letter of protest, but no one showed outside the closed gate.

Beijing police limited access to the demonstration and asked the protesters to disperse after they finished their scheduled activities by singing the Chinese national anthem.

Similar protests have also taken place at Japanese consulates in Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou, following Monday's demonstration at Japan's consulate in Hong Kong, organizers said.

Activists from Hong Kong and China have tried to land on the islands every year, but Chinese police have scuttled recent attempts by mainland boats.

The islands are also claimed by Taiwan, where they are known as Tiaoyutai.