Japan's athletes have little to fear from local fans at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, a senior Chinese official said on Wednesday, despite worsening relations between the Asian powers in recent weeks.
Sino-Japan ties have deteriorated sharply since the Japanese coast guard detained a Chinese trawler captain in September after their boats collided near disputed isles in the East China Sea.
Japan has warned its athletes at the November 12-27 Asian Games not to antagonise their Chinese hosts by talking politics, while security forces have been on high alert in the Pearl River Delta city for signs of tensions boiling over into crowd misbehaviour.
China's deputy chef de mission Tian Xu said local fans were mature enough to separate sport from politics, however, and would welcome the Japanese athletes along with all international teams at the massive multi-sport event.
"Recently, on the political stage there have been some clashes, but this is normal in international relations," Tian told reporters.
"Today we talking about sport, not diplomacy."
"It's not like 30 years ago. After reform and opening up, people's attitudes and opinions towards who wins or loses have changed a lot.
"The Chinese spectators will also cheer for the Japanese team."
POLICE PRESENCE
Despite Tian's forecast, local organisers are taking no chances and posted thousands of security personnel in the crowd during China's 3-0 defeat by Japan during a soccer pool match on Monday.
While sections of the crowd hurled abuse at visiting fans on occasion, the match passed without incident, helped by a wall of armed police flanking the small pocket of Japanese fans and barring them from leaving the stadium until the local crowd had made their exit.
"We can see that Guangzhou people behaved themselves and we foresee that the following events will pass well," Tian said.
Organisers dodged questions as to whether security forces would be bolstered for future Japan-China clashes, only to say that measures would be carried out "in accordance to the demands of the venues."
Ugly crowd behaviour has frequently marred contests between the bitter sport rivals in China. The soccer team's loss to Japan in the final of the Asian Cup in 2004 sparked rioting by local fans who burned Japanese flags in the capital Beijing.
Organisers said they were fully confident in their security preparations amid simmering political disputes between competing countries, but declined to elaborate as to any specific threats targeting the four-year event. The Asian Games will hold its opening ceremony on Friday.
