TOKYO: Japan's big three automakers shuttered some or all of their factory
operations in China on Tuesday amid escalating anti-Japan protests centred on a
bitter territorial dispute between the Asian giants.
Honda Motor said it had
temporarily closed all five of its China plants after violent demonstrations,
while Nissan temporarily shut two of three factories and Toyota said it had
scaled back production but did not elaborate.
"We decided to stop
production at our automobile factories for today and tomorrow
(Wednesday)," a Honda spokesman told AFP, adding that no decision had been
made about plant restarts later in the week.
"We can produce cars in the
factories, but we are concerned about delivery to the dealers," he added.
Honda makes about 970,000
vehicles annually at its five China plants, while Nissan counts China as its
biggest single market.
"From (Thursday), we will
assess the situation to decide what to do," said Nissan spokesman
Christopher Keefe.
"No facility has experienced
direct trouble or direct damage. (But) the safety of our personnel is the
highest priority."
Toyota, Japan's biggest
automaker, declined to offer specifics on shutdowns at its three assembly
plants and six other factories, saying only that it viewed "employees'
safety to be top priority".
Each factory "has made its
own decision based on an overall understanding of situation to conduct or not
conduct operations today", a Toyota spokesman said.
"Some will operate and some
will not."
The firms' shares were hit in
early Tokyo trade as the two nations' bitter diplomatic tussle over East China
Sea islands known as Diaoyu by Beijing and Senkaku by Tokyo spooked investors.
By the break, Nissan was down 2.3
percent at 721 yen and Honda was off 1.53 percent at 2,630 yen, while Toyota
dipped 0.9 percent in early trade but clawed up to 3,230 yen, or 0.46 percent
higher.
A group of Japanese business
leaders headed by Toyota's chairman said it may cancel a regular trip to China
because of the dispute, while electronics giant Panasonic also said it was
temporarily shutting some China operations.
"Obviously, it's in
everyone's best interest to wind the tensions down, especially given Japan's
huge investments and exports to China," said Nicholas Smith, an equity
strategist at brokerage CLSA.
Widespread anti-Japanese
protests, some of them violent, have been held across China in recent days over
the East China Sea islands. They are claimed by both but controlled by Japan.
A new bout of demonstrations is
expected on Tuesday, the anniversary of the 1931 "Mukden incident"
that led to Japan's invasion of Manchuria, which is commemorated every year in
China.
China and Japan have close trade
and business ties, with numerous Japanese companies investing in their larger
neighbour and two-way trade totalling $342.9 billion last year, according to
Chinese figures.
But the two countries' political
relationship is often tense due to the territorial dispute and Chinese
resentment over past conflicts and atrocities.
The row over the islands
intensified last week when the Japanese government bought three of them,
effectively nationalising them, and China responded by sending patrol ships to
nearby waters.
- AFP/cc/al
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