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Beijing slams Ishihara's remarks

BEIJING: China's state-controlled press on Monday slammed Tokyo's outspoken Governor Shintaro Ishihara for calling China the biggest threat facing Japan and advocating the division of China into separate states. "Ishihara now sees China, which has already been bullied by Japanese militarism, as a threat," the leading People's Daily said in an editorial. "But he has ulterior motives, his aim is to tie up China, obstruct China's development and ensure that China remains forever weak and a place to exploit and invade," the paper said.

The paper was commenting on an interview that Ishihara gave to the German-language publication Der Spiegel last week. During the interview, Ishihara reportedly urged the Japanese government to view China as a threat and to implement policies that could lead to the break up of China and the establishment of several separate countries. "Ishihara hopes that Taiwan and other regions will split off and leave China dismembered with the aim of thoroughly weakening China and reviving the old dream of Japanese militarism to become Asia's leader," the People's Daily said.

Ishihara's statements undermined Sino-Japanese ties and the commitments made by the Japanese government on recognising the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole government of all of China, it added.

The paper also said that the Chinese people would never forget Japanese atrocities in China during World War II and nine other Japanese invasions of China. "While the governments and peoples of China and Japan make efforts to push forward bilateral relations with the spirit of looking to the future while remembering the past, Ishihara's wild talk of making enemies of China and Chinese people goes against the tides of history," it said.ÑAFP