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The China anti-Japanese demonstrations of 2012 were a series of initially peaceful demonstrations held across major cities in China as well as South Korea during August and September 2012. The main cause of the demonstrations was the escalation of Diaoyu Islands dispute (Diaoyu islands known as Senkaku in Japan) between China and Japan around the time of the anniversary of "September 18 Incident". The protesters in several cities later became violent and the local authorities began arresting demonstrators and banning the demonstrations.
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Background
The Senkaku Islands (in Japanese; Diaoyu Islands in Chinese) are offshore islands near Taiwan, and have been a subject of territorial dispute between the governments of the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China and Japan. Prior to the demonstrations, there were many cases of protests over the sovereignty of the islands, most notably those in China in 2005. September 18 marks the anniversary of the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the memories of which fuel anti-Japanese sentiment in China.
After the 2010 Senkaku boat collision incident, China stopped exporting rare earth to Japan.
Incidents leading up to the protests
On 16 April 2012, Tokyo's prefectural governor Shintaro Ishihara publicly announced his decision to let Tokyo Municipality purchase the island from its private owner.
On 4 July 2012, three Japanese coast guard boats made an official inspection of one Taiwanese ship near the disputed island. After the inspection, Japanese coast guard and Taiwanese coast guard stood face to face.
On 7 July 2012, Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda expresses his consideration for the Japanese government to buy the disputed islands. The Chinese government angrily protested; Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin retorted "No one will ever be permitted to buy and sell China's sacred territory".
On 15 August 2012, activists from Hong Kong sailed to, and landed on one of the disputed islands, but were stopped by the Japan Coast Guard. Seven activists jumped from the ships to swim ashore, five of whom reached the island; the other two turned back to the ships. The activists and their ship were detained by Japanese authorities. The detained activists were deported two days later.
First wave of protests
After the detainment of Hong Kong activists by the Japanese Coast Guard, Netizens in Mainland China called for a nationwide protest against Japan on 19 August.
In Beijing, citizens began protesting in front of the Japanese embassy on 15 August. On the morning of 19 August, a crowd gathered and held placards bearing phrases such as "Return us the Diaoyu Islands" and "Japan must confess her crimes" in protest.
In Shenzhen, protesters marched down the streets chanting slogans such as "Defend the Diaoyu Islands" and "Smash Japanese Imperialism", called for the boycott of Japanese goods and for the government to retake the islands. In the process, many protesters tore up Japanese flags and smashed Japanese-branded cars and vandalized shops selling Japanese goods; rocks were hurled at a Ramen shop. The protests lasted till about 2pm. According to Sing Tao Daily, the government sent in large numbers of armed police, who called for an end to the violent protests, began driving the protesters away and detaining several over-reacting protesters. On 14 September, the Shenzhen Police detained 4 protesters for violating private property rights by deliberately smashing roadside cars.
The anti-Japanese protests were occasionally exploited by protesters who sought to criticize the Chinese government. Such demonstrations included marching with posters of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong—perceived to be more assertive on issues of sovereignty than current leaders, as well as signs about corruption, food safety, and income inequality. Supporters of the ousted anti-capitalist leader Bo Xilai also had a showing during the protests.
There were also protests of varied intensities in other major cities such as Jinan, Qingdao, Guangzhou, Taiyuan, Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin, Chengdu and Hangzhou. There were police officers maintaining order at the scenes to prevent incidents of violence.
China
Japan
Media comments
Second wave of protests
Reactions
Crackdown
On 17 September, police in the city of Xi'an banned large protests and forbade the use of phone and online messages to organize illegal protests. For the duration of the week, paramilitary troops in Shanghai provided round-the-clock protection to the Japanese consulate, stripping demonstrators of projectiles, warning them against violence with megaphones, and limiting demonstrators' time at the site to a few minutes. On September 18, police in Qingdao city arrested six people for violent acts in connection with the demonstrations. Guangzhou authorities arrested 18 people who committed anti-Japanese vandalism and asked the public to submit evidence against other violators. Governments elsewhere in Guangdong Province warned citizens against being present in large crowds.
On 19 September, national authorities deployed riot police to suppress existing protests and to prevent their re-occurrence. Stations near to protest sites were closed by Beijing subway authorities, roads were re-opened to traffic, and Beijing-wide text messages warned citizens against further demonstrations. Outside of minor protests in Shanghai, no demonstrations were reported on the 19th. Police stations across the country vowed retribution against rioters on Weibo, and China's commerce ministry urged foreign companies to report damage to the authorities. The Japanese embassy in Beijing confirmed that there were no longer protests at that location, and Japanese businesses which had shut down during the protests re-opened.
On 21 September, dozens of Japanese coast guard officials and Okinawa Prefecture police officers landed on the Uotsuri island, a largest island of Senkaku islands to prepare for the landing of Taiwanese activists.
On 22 September, the United States Marine Corps and Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force proceeded with an amphibious assault drill on the scenario of retaking an island occupied by enemy forces.
Economic impact
During the protests against Japan, there have been calls of boycotts of Japanese goods in addition to the destruction of several existing Japanese products. Many Japanese businesses and factories in China were shuttered in reaction to the protests. Some Chinese group tours to Japan were cancelled, dealing a blow to the Japanese tourism industry. The Japanese car manufacturing industry has suffered a loss of $250 million between 15–21 September due to the production of about 14,000 cars being suspended. The Guardian predicted a global slowdown of economy due to the protests.
Chinese authorities asked booksellers in Beijing to ban books by Japanese authors and titles about Japanese topics, and pressured Chinese publishers not to translate and publish Japanese content in response to China-Japan conflict. Then Bookstores got rid of all publications related to Japan or written by Japanese authors. On October 12, the entrepreneur-philanthropist Chen Guangbiao spent over $770,000 of his own money to buy new Geely cars for 172 owners of Japanese cars that were vandalized during the protests.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged people to express thoughts "rationally and within the law".
Japan Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda urged China to prevent anti-Japan violence.
President Ma Ying-jeou remarked the waters surrounding the Diaoyutais are traditional fishing grounds of Taiwanese fishermen.
United States urged calm in the China–Japan islands dispute.