China-Japan tension steps up over flag

A MAN ripped a Japanese flag from a car carrying Japan’s ambassador in Beijing yesterday, triggering a protest from Tokyo in the latest flare-up of a territorial row that provoked the worst anti-Japanese protests in years.

The Japanese embassy issued a statement saying the ambassador, Uichiro Niwa, was unhurt in the incident. It said two other vehicles forced his car to stop and a man got out, broke off the Japanese flag and ran off with it.

The embassy said it had “filed a strong protest with the Chinese foreign ministry”. It said that in response, a senior ministry official called the incident “extremely regrettable” and pledged efforts to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens and businesses in China.

The incident occurred amid heightened tensions over disputed islands since mid-August, when the Japanese coastguard detained Chinese activists who sailed from Hong Kong and landed on the islands. Anti-­Japanese demonstrations have taken place in Chinese cities over the past two weekends.

The uninhabited islands – known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – have long been a source of friction over competing territorial claims to the islets and surrounding fishing areas and potentially rich gas deposits.