Chinese in LA support China on Diaoyu Islands

LOS ANGELES - Overseas Chinese in Los Angeles marked the 81st anniversary of the "Sept 18 Incident" Tuesday by voicing support for China's resolve to defend the Diaoyu Islands.

On Sept 18, 1931, Japanese forces attacked the barracks of Chinese troops in the northeast Chinese city of Shenyang, marking the beginning of a Japanese invasion and occupation that lasted 14 years.

The "Sept 18 Incident" has also been marked as a "day of national humiliation" in China.

This year's "Sept 18 Incident" was marked several days after the Japanese government went ahead with its plan to illegally "purchase" China's Diaoyu Islands from its "private owner" on Sept 11, despite China's strong opposition and warnings.

"The so-called purchase of Diaoyu Islands by the Japanese government is national terrorism, and we Chinese Americans can not accept it," Song Guo Zheng, associate professor of medicine and immunology at the University of Southern California, told a forum observing the occasion.

Zheng, who is also president of the America Anhui Association of Scholars and Students, which co-sponsored the forum with the USA Beijing Association, called on overseas Chinese to write letters to the US Congress and the White House to express their view that the United States should respect China's sovereignty and not take sides with Japan during the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands.

Chinese Americans could play a role in backing the Chinese government to defend its territorial integrity, he said.

Ling Wang, who was born in northeast China, said she and her family would never forget Sept 18, a day that had brought much humiliation to the Chinese people.

She said overseas Chinese in the United States supported a strong and rich China because, only when China was strong, could its territorial integrity be guaranteed.

Jinghui Wu from the Vietnamese-Cambodian-Laos American Association said Sept 18 was a pain, which was always felt in the heart of Chinese abroad.

The so-call "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands had increased the pain, Wu said, adding it was time for Chinese Americans to stand up and say no to Japan over the dispute.

Chinese Americans should urge US politicians to prevent the government from siding with Japan, Wu said.

Qian Lu, a Chinese community leader in Los Angeles, said the so-called "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands had refreshed the Chinese people's memories of the "Sept 18 Incident."

It was time for Chinese Americans to take practical actions to support the Chinese government's resolve to defend its sovereignty.

Chenghua Cai, another Chinese community leader, said the so-called "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands revealed the Japanese government's ambition over Chinese territory.

Chinese Americans fully supported China's determination to defend its territorial integrity, he said.