XIAMEN, China (Reuters) -A spectator with patriotic slogans written in Chinese on his t-shirt and body ran onto the field and briefly disrupted the China-Japan soccer World Cup qualifier in China’s eastern city Xiamen on Tuesday.
Tensions in China heading into the match have been high following a spate of mass attacks two of which targeted Japanese nationals earlier this year. On Tuesday, a man ploughed his SUV into students outside a primary school in southern China.
Footage posted online by Chinese broadcaster Phoenix TV showed a man running onto the pitch about 30 minutes into the game and approaching the Japanese goalkeeper.
A slogan, handwritten in Chinese characters on his bare back, read “Rise of national football”, an image taken by Phoenix TV showed.
The man also had “Born like ants with lofty aspirations” written by hand on his white t-shirt, an image captured by a Reuters photographer showed, an apparent reference to China’s underdog status in the game against Japan.
After running to the other end of the pitch, the man was tackled by several security guards, the footage showed.
The Tuesday car ramming comes after last week a driver rammed his vehicle into a crowd at a sports centre in Zhuhai in southern China, killing 35 people and severely injuring 43 in the deadliest mass attack in China in a decade.
There was no indication that Japanese citizens were targeted in the incidents this and last week, but Tokyo has warned Japanese nationals in China to keep their voices down when speaking in Japanese in public and to avoid going out at night.
In September, an assailant killed a student at a Japanese school in southern China, and in June a man killed a Chinese national who defended a Japanese mother and her child from an assailant who targeted a bus used by a Japanese school.
Before the kick-off an announcer read out a letter from the organizers to supporters, urging “civility” and respect for others: “Respect the right of other spectators to watch the game, do not crowd, do not push, and avoid conflicts.”
But outside the stadium, videos on Weibo showed, dozens of Chinese fans in red jerseys crowded around and shouted at a Japan supporter in blue who was escorted by several security guards towards the stadium.
Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a regular briefing on Tuesday that Japan would “continue to monitor the security situation in China and do our utmost to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals”.
China for its part reassured the safety of “all foreigners” in the country at a regular foreign ministry press conference.
(Reporting by the Beijing newsroom; Writing by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alex Richardson)
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