Young protester argues with Chinese military police officers during anti-Japanese protest in Shanghai, Saturday |
At least 5,000 people took to the streets of Shanghai, China's largest city and its commercial center, as part of a new wave of anti-Japanese protests. The demonstrators denounced Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council and condemned what they say are Tokyo's attempts to rewrite history by minimizing Japan's wartime atrocities.
The demonstrators also damaged several Japanese-style restaurants in Shanghai, but police appeared to be able to control the crowds.
Reports from Hangzhou, about 200 kilometers southwest from Shanghai, say a large anti-Japan protest took place in the scenic eastern city. In the north, the official Xinhua news agency said there was a similar demonstration in Tianjin, the seaport near Beijing.
Authorities are taking a harder line against demonstrations today in the capital, and a large police force is deployed around the Japanese Embassy. Japan's Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura arrives in Beijing Sunday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Li Zhaoxing.