Footage circumvents China's YouTube ban

Seima Oki / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

BEIJING--Although access to YouTube is banned in China, some Chinese Internet users have seen alleged footage of the collisions between a Chinese trawler and Japan Coast Guard vessels off the Senkaku Islands and are generally supportive of the fishing boat's captain.

The Chinese government apparently hoped to keep the footage from spreading among the country's more than 400 million Internet users by deleting it as soon as it appeared on other sites.

However, Chinese who saw the footage posted such comments as "Great and brave captain! We Chinese support you forever," and "It's obvious that only the parts of the evidence that are favorable to Japan were shown."

Some users said they downloaded the footage, but did not want to post it on the Internet because it would have an extremely negative impact on the homeland.

Others were more forthright, with some calling for anti-Japan demonstrations Saturday and saying every Chinese should take action.

Diplomats and other officials fear that the footage may trigger a backlash in China and that Japan will be accused of releasing the video on purpose.

When video of the Sept. 7 collisions was screened for about 30 members of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors on Monday, Ma Zhaoxu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said it was impossible to change the facts on the footage, just as it was impossible to cover up Japan's illegal actions.