Indonesia's Overseas Chinese protest against Japan

Indonesia's overseas Chinese representatives staged a peaceful demonstration in Jakarta Tuesday, protesting the Japanese government's illegal "purchase" of China's Diaoyu Islands and commemorating the Sept. 18th incident in 1931.

The Japanese government last week formally signed a contract to "purchase" part of the Diaoyu Islands, triggering widespread anti- Japanese protests in China and abroad.

About 100 demonstrators gathered in front of the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta at 9:18 a.m. local time, raising banners and placards in Chinese or Indonesian saying "The Diaoyu Islands belong to China" and "Defend the Diaoyu Islands," "Never forget the national humiliation." During the rally, the protesters chanted slogans and read out the petition in Chinese and Indonesia, waving Chinese flags.

"As an overseas Chinese, I strongly support every effort by the Chinese government to safeguard its sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands." Sherry, a Chinese Indonesian, said to Xinhua, " we will by no means allow any infringement on state sovereignty and territorial integrity by the Japanese government, Diaoyu Islands belongs to China, the Japanese shall leave the islands immediately."

Li Deguang, the spokesman of this demonstration, said they have already passed the petition to the Japanese embassy, adding that the Japanese had brought China and other Asian countries great injuries during the World War II, if the Japanese don't learn a lesson from the past, and how could Japan ever win trust from its neighbors and people of the world, Li said.

On the same day in 1931, the Japanese military staged a premeditated incident in northeast China and engineered it as a pretext for starting its invasion of China.

The demonstration was organized by the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce of Indonesia (ZCCI) and representatives of the overseas Chinese in Indonesia. A day earlier, a Diaoyu Islands Defending forum was launched to initiate the protest.