TOKYO – The residence of the Chinese ambassador here was vandalised and a Chinese consulate in Osaka received a threatening letter yesterday in apparent retaliation for violent anti-Japan protests in China.
The mailbox, doorplate and intercom of the ambassador’s residence in Tokyo’s Minato ward were daubed with graffiti written in red paint, according to Kyodo news agency.
Police blamed the attack on growing tensions between Japan and China following last weekend’s demonstrations, Kyodo reported, without revealing what the graffiti said.
Earlier, a threatening letter containing a razor blade was mailed to the Chinese Consulate General in Osaka, western Japan, an Osaka prefectural police spokesman said.
“We are investigating the incident as a possible case on intimidation related to the anti-Japanese demonstrations in China,” the spokesman said.
The brown envelope contained a spare safety razor blade and three sheets of paper, he added.
The Jiji news agency reported that the notes read “Stop anti-Japanese education,” “Down with crude anti-Japanese demonstrations” and “Prostrate in front of the Dalai Lama.”
The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, is currently visiting Japan on a lecture tour. His overseas visits are systematically condemned by China which accuses the Nobel peace prize laureate of being a separatist.
The same consulate general had also received a letter containing a pistol cartridge after the demonstrations.
Cracks, which could have been caused by a BB or air gun, were also discovered last Sunday in the glass door of a building that includes a branch office of the Bank of China in Yokohama near Tokyo.
