http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2005/04/30/2003252534
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Tokyo issues China-travel warning ahead of holiday
AP AND AFP , TOKYO AND SINGAPORE
Saturday, Apr 30, 2005,Page 1
Advertising Japan's foreign ministry issued a new warning for its
citizens traveling to China over the May Day holiday week that kicked off
yesterday due to concerns that more anti-Japanese demonstrations could turn
violent.
Angry protests have erupted in China in recent weeks over differing views
of World War II history, natural gas exploration and Japan's bid for a
permanent seat on the UN Security Council, sending the two countries' relations
to their lowest level in decades.
Tokyo has demanded an apology, but Beijing has blamed Japan's lack of
remorse over its wartime atrocities for causing the troubles.
In the latest travel warning, issued late on Thursday, the Foreign
Ministry in Tokyo said that activists planned more protests on the Labor Day
holiday tomorrow and on May 4, the date of a 1919 student uprising over a
treaty that ceded part of China to Japan, in major cities including Shanghai,
Nanjing and Chongqing.
"We worry that [activists] may take advantage of [such memorial events]
and hold anti-Japanese demonstrations," the ministry said in a statement,
posted on its Web site.
"If you witness or obtain information on anti-Japanese activities, please
do not approach potential venues and use caution not to be involved in
unnecessary trouble," the statement continued.
There were signs that anti-Japanese riots are gradually receding, but the
possibilities for more riots could not be ruled out, the ministry said.
The ministry issued similar warnings earlier this month.
In Shanghai, which is eager to burnish its image as a cosmopolitan center
for culture and trade, authorities have been holding meetings with parents at
local schools, warning them not to let their children join any protests.
State-controlled newspapers in Shanghai have also been running daily
commentaries calling for "social stability."
In the earlier demonstrations, rioters smashed windows at the Japanese
Embassy in Beijing and consulate in Shanghai and vandalized Japanese
restaurants and company buildings.
The Chinese government has recently warned against unauthorized protests.
Meanwhile, Japanese business sentiment towards China remains unchanged
despite the recent tensions, a senior Japanese official said in Singapore
yesterday.
"Japanese business circles will understand the importance of relations
between China and Japan," Japanese Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal
Policy Heizo Takenaka said.
"As far as I know at this moment, Japanese business circles are very
carefuly watching the situation but they [have] not changed any investment
attitude, trade attitude. They are behaving in a very rational manner,"
Takenaka said.
He was speaking at a news conference after addressing the World Economic
Forum's Asia Roundtable in Singapore.
Asked if angry Chinese protests over history textbooks that allegedly
gloss over Tokyo's wartime atrocities had changed Japanese business sentiment
toward China, Takenaka said: "I don't hear that kind of voice."
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