Japan says it will deport 14 Chinese activists who landed on disputed island

TOKYO - Japan will deport 14 Chinese activists who were arrested this week for landing on disputed islands in the East China Sea without authorization, officials said Friday, relieving some of the tension from one of the territorial disputes Tokyo has with its neighbors.

The protesters had traveled by boat from Hong Kong to the uninhabited islands controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. They were arrested Wednesday after five of them landed on one of the five-island group, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Friday that Japan would deport the activists and not press further charges.

"The decision is strictly based on domestic laws, not swayed by emotions," Fujimura said, denying any political consideration.

He said some of the activists had thrown concrete blocks onto coast guard patrol boats but did not cause any injury or major damage that would subject them to criminal charges.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda called the incident "extremely regrettable."

The arrests prompted protests in Hong Kong and Beijing. Japan's move to quickly deport the activists was seen as an attempt to keep the incident from further inflaming protests.

Five of the activists were arrested Wednesday after landing on one of the islands. The others who stayed behind were also taken into custody. The 14 activists, who had been questioned by police and coast guard investigators, were standing by Friday for deportation at an immigration facility on Japan's southern island of Okinawa. Authorities were deciding final details, coast guard officials said.

Chinese activists had last landed on the islands in 2004, and seven who were arrested were repatriated quickly.

China had demanded immediate release of the activists, saying their capture by Tokyo was hurting bilateral relations. Dozens of people protested in Beijing, Hong Kong and several other major cities, praising the activists as heroes and burning Japanese flags.

Japan's arrest and weekslong detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain in 2010 after his vessel collided with Japanese patrol boats near the disputed islands triggered the worst diplomatic dispute in years between the countries, prompting Beijing to suspend some exports and cancel high-level talks.

Japan says it has controlled the five main islands for more than 100 years. It has been trying to place four that are privately held under state ownership to bolster its territorial claim.

While the deportations will relieve some tension between Tokyo and Beijing, Japan moved to act tougher on another island dispute, this one with South Korea.

Japan threatened Friday to cancel upcoming ministerial talks to protest recent remarks and actions by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak that stirred animosity, and said it wants to take the island dispute to the International Court of Justice.

Lee recently visited the islands, which are controlled by South Korea but also claimed by Japan, angering Tokyo. Lee also said this week that Japanese Emperor Akihito should apologize to Koreans if he wants to visit South Korea and condemned Japan over its wartime sexual slavery of Korean women.

Fujimura, the chief Cabinet secretary, said Japan "within days" would seek South Korea's consent to take the case to the international court to rule on the overlapping claims on the islands, called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean.

Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi called Lee's remarks and actions "unacceptable" and suggested the possibility of postponing talks with his South Korean counterpart scheduled for later this month.

Japan also could consider terminating a bilateral foreign exchange scheme to help support the South Korean won, Azumi said.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/world/166387856.html

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