Japanese broadcaster NHK apologizes after employee referred to Senkaku Islands as “Chinese territory”

Japanese broadcaster NHK apologized Wednesday after a Chinese contract worker called the disputed Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture “Chinese territory” during an international radio show this week.

The 40-year-old Chinese NHK employee made the unscripted remarks, which lasted about 20 seconds during a Chinese-language program broadcast on NHK World-Japan and Radio 2 on Monday, Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported.

The station employee has been working since 2002 under a service contract with NHK and its affiliated organization. He translates Japanese news into Chinese and reads texts on the radio.

His comments came just after he read a report of an incident in which graffiti was found at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo’s Chiyoda district, where Japan’s Class A war criminals are buried.

Japanese broadcaster NHK stressed that it did not know why he made such a remark. It also launched a strong protest with the employee through a related organization, and the group planned to suspend his contract.

Japan’s NHK said: “It was inappropriate to broadcast a statement unrelated to news, and we sincerely apologize. We will implement measures to prevent this from happening again.”

The Senkaku Islands have long been a point of contention between Japan and China. The islands are administered by Japan. China’s interest in the islands began in the 1970s, after studies suggested they might be amid potentially vast deposits of oil and natural gas.

Furthermore, the islands lie near important sea routes and are surrounded by rich fishing grounds.

The employee’s mention of the island is embarrassing for NHK, as the station has traditionally expressed the Japanese government’s position on territorial disputes and historical issues.

Watch | Japan, China to hold talks: Senkaku Islands dispute on the cards

Sino-Japanese conflict over Senkakus Island

Japan’s position on the Senkaku Islands is that they are “definitely an inseparable part of Japan’s territory” and “there is no issue of territorial sovereignty to be resolved” between Tokyo and Beijing.

The conflict between the two countries over the islands came to light in 2012 when Tokyo’s then right-wing government, Shintaro Ishihara, presented the idea of ​​buying the islands from their private Japanese owners.

This led to the intervention of the central government, which bought the islands, effectively nationalizing them. As a result, anti-Japanese protests took place in Beijing and other Chinese cities, and hundreds of Japanese companies temporarily closed their operations in the country.

(With agency guidance)