2,000 demonstrators join DAB-led rally
About 2,000 demonstrators took part in a rally last night organised by a pro-China coalition on the eve of the 65th anniversary of the Japanese invasion of northeast China.
The protest outside the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui and a separate rally by university students in Central were the curtain-raiser to another wave of protests over the islands today.
A leader of the Hong Kong Joint Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands, Tsang Yok-sing, dismissed criticism China was being too soft in handling the territorial dispute.
'China has to take into account many factors,' said Mr Tsang, the leader of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong.
'Japan has been spreading rumours saying China poses a military threat in Asia. If China decides to send naval ships to the Diaoyu Islands, Japan will use this move as an evidence.' Also attending last night's rally was Mary Odachi, a Japanese writer living in Hong Kong. Miss Odachi said: 'We should go on criticising Japan's militarism. I'm happy there're so many young people here and we should all learn from history.' The two-hour rally ended after the organisers burned an effigy of a Japanese soldier.
In Chater Garden, about 30 students took part in a rally to demonstrate their anger over the Japanese occupation of the islands.
The protestors later moved to stage an overnight sit-in at the Exchange Square, the site of the Japanese Consulate.
