Japanese Carmakers Close Doors In China On Invasion-Day

Most Japanese carmakers temporarily closed their Chinese factories on the anniversary date of Japan's pre-war invasion of Japan. This follows violent riots across China. Toyota suspended some of its car production operations in China.  Toyota spokesman Hitoshi Yokoyama said in a text message sent to Reuters that Toyota decided to halt manufacturing and other operations, to "ensure employee safety." Suzuki said it is suspending operations at one of its motorcycle plants in China.  Operations at the plant in Jinan, Shandong province, will be halted on Tuesday, Suzuki spokesman Ei Mochizuki told Reuters. Mitsubishi Motors said it will halt operations at one of its factories in China, Reuters says. Yamaha Motor Co also said that it will suspend operations at four plants in China on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Mazda said it will resume production at its Nanjing factory in China, earlier than initially planned, a spokesman told Reuters today. More plant closures had been announced yesterday. Overall, it currently appears as if matters are cooling down after getting out of hand over the weekend. After having run appeals that "irrational, violent anti-Japanese protests should be avoided," Government-controlled media rarely report about demonstrations anymore, and  "sensitive" search words have been purged from the Weibo microblog platform. Also according to Reuters, there is a risk the protests "could get out of hand and backfire on Beijing, which has implied tacit approval to them through state media. One Hong Kong newspaper said some protesters in southern Shenzhen had been detained for calling for democracy and human rights." Yesterday's departure of a giant fleet of 1,000 Chinese fishing boats, en-route to the disputed islands,  probably was a half truth. Last weekend, a three month fishing moratorium for the area ended, and fishing boats would have left with and without international attention. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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