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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (3688)	11/12/2004 12:15:17 AM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

LOL--Japan raises submarine issue with China: report AFP: 11/11/2004 TOKYO (AFP) - Japan took up with China the issue of a suspicious submarine that intruded into its waters amid alarm in Tokyo that the vessel was a show of strength from its neighbour and growing competitor. Japan's former prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said he told Chinese leaders the incident was "regrettable" without assigning blame for the submarine which has been tracked for two days, Kyodo News reported from Beijing. Hashimoto said Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong and Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan were looking into whether the submarine could be Chinese and told him "'once the issue is clarified, the two countries could discuss the matter'," according to Kyodo. The submarine spent about two hours in Japanese waters Wednesday near the southern island of Okinawa before being chased on the high seas by two Japanese destroyers and a surveillance plane. Both countries have been cautious in identifying the nationality of the submarine. If confirmed as Chinese the incident is expected to damage already sour diplomatic relations between the Asian powers. "We have seen the reports and are watching the situation closely," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said earlier. "Of course the relevant departments are maintaining close contact to watch this incident." The Japanese government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda, told an afternoon news conference that the vessel was moving "in many different directions". "Once we find out the nationality of the submarine, we would take appropriate measures," Hosoda said. Moscow categorically denied the submarine was Russian. Japan's Defence Agency believes the vessel is a Chinese navy Han-type nuclear-powered submarine because of its cruising sound, the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun and Jiji Press news agency said. "If the submarine is confirmed to be a Chinese vessel, the government must strongly protest to China immediately," the Yomiuri said in an editorial. The liberal Asahi Shimbun said that while Japan needed to gather all the facts first and avoid unnecessary tension, "criticism towards China would inevitably increase if the submarine is of the Chinese navy." "We urge the Chinese government to investigate the incident urgently. We must not let this issue drag on," the Asahi said. The Sankei Shimbun called the submarine an "alarming sign" and suspected China wanted to show its military might to Japan, the United States and Taiwan, where support has been growing for a declaration of independence from Beijing. "It is unlikely that China will come forward to reveal the submarine's nationality and purposes," said the daily, which is sympathetic to Taiwan. "But if it was aimed to demonstrate the (Chinese) presence to Japan and the United States as well as Taiwan," the Sankei said, "the objective seems to have been fully achieved." China feels deep resentment over Japan's failure to formally apologise for atrocities during its brutal occupation of the country from 1931 to 1945. That resentment has been regularly reinforced by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a Tokyo shrine that honors the war dead including convicted war criminals. On its part, Japan has said China may be planning new fields in a disputed gas project around the maritime boundary between the countries, which are both major energy importers. A Japanese parliamentary report Wednesday called for slashing aid to China, saying its neighbour tolerated anti-Japanese sentiment and felt in a position to hand out loans of its own. 11/11/2004 - 19:22 GMT - AFP turkishpress.com