Asia Weekly names Diaoyu voyagers 'people of the year'
Eight Diaoyu activists from Hong Kong, Macau and mainland are featured on cover of Asia Weekly as 'persons of the year' for 2012
Eight activists from Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland who sailed to the Diaoyu Islands to claim them for China appeared on the cover of Asia Weekly as “people of the year”.
Lauded as national heroes in the Chinese-language magazine are captain Yeung Hong, vessel owner Lo Chau, Tsang Kin-shing, Koo Sze-yiu, Wong Fah-man, Lo Chung-cheong, Ng Shek-yiu from Macau and Fang Xiaosong from the mainland.
Seven members of the group managed to land on the main island and pitch China's national flag - the first time since 1996. All seven were profiled by Asia Weekly; Wong, who stayed on the boat, was commended for carrying the national flag.
Asia Weekly's first 2013 edition commended their efforts and briefly profiled each of the eight activists.
“The voyagers presented a pure patriotic emotion,” said the report. “Although the activists are from the grass roots, they were able to sail across the waves of political diplomatic storms.”
They “overturned Japan’s practice of nationalising the Diaoyu Islands”.
“How can we talk of China’s patriotism when the sons and daughters of high officials are all shunning their obligations and enjoying their lives overseas?"
The Asia Weekly report coined the term “rational patriotism” and rendered the violent protests in September to have “polluted the purity of patriotism”.
It concluded that the voyage embodied “new hopes for China’s national sovereignty, dignity and political reform”, and that “Kai Fung No 2 unquestionably remains in everyone’s heart”.