![]() Anti-Japanese protest turns violent From correspondents in Shanghai, China 16apr05 THOUSANDS of people staged violent anti-Japanese rallies across China today in a second weekend of protests as Beijing said relations with its neighbour were at a "crossroads". Onlookers estimated up to 10,000 people marched along Yanan Road in Shanghai towards the Japanese consulate while several thousand rallied in the eastern city of Hangzhou and similar numbers in Tianjin, south-east of Beijing. At the consulate in Shanghai, riot police three-deep linked arms to prevent the rowdy crowd from entering the compound as they pelted it with rocks, bottles and paint, smashing windows. Elsewhere in the city, Japanese restaurants, businesses and cars were attacked with rocks and eggs. One restaurant was completely destroyed. More protests, sparked by the Japanese government's approval of revamped history textbooks which Beijing felt made light of the nation's atrocities in World War II, are expected around China tomorrow. However, a rally scheduled for the capital Beijing, where police were out in force, failed to materialise following a warning yesterday against any protests by the Public Security Bureau. Japan demanded China rein in the violent protesters, warning it was hurting Beijing's reputation. "The embassy has called the Chinese authorities to take necessary measures to stop the illegal and violent actions staged by the Chinese mobs," Keiji Ide, spokesman for the Japanese embassy in Beijing, said. "I'm very much afraid that such a situation will damage the image of China abroad." The rallies in Shanghai began at three separate venues - the Bund, People's Square and Shanghai Museum - before the demonstrators shouting "down with Japan" and "boycott Japanese goods" converged to march to the consulate. There was a heavy police presence along the route and at the consulate but they did not intervene, AFP reporters said. "I'm here for the love of my country and I think by opposing Japan I can show this. Japan has never apologised sincerely for their mistakes," said a graduate student surnamed Su. On the famous Bund, students wearing T-shirts yelled: "You can forgive history but you cannot distort history." Another banner read: "Give back the Diaoyu islands", referring to a disputed island chain claimed by both Japan and China in the East China Sea. One protester carried a sign showing Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi with his head in a toilet, reading: "Japan. Apologise to the Chinese people." China's anti-Japanese websites and internet forums had called for a second wave of rallies following violent protests by tens of thousands last weekend in Beijing, and the southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Both Japan and the United States issued urgent alerts yesterday for their citizens to be careful. Chinese state councillor Tang Jiaxuan, a former foreign minister, said Japanese leaders' visits to the Yasukuni shrine honouring war dead including convicted war criminals were at the heart of the problems. In a meeting with with Toyohiko Yamanouchi, president of Japan's Kyodo News Agency, he described relations as "at the crossroads", the Xinhua news agency reported. In addition, territorial disputes and national sentiment were getting worse, he said. Japan on Thursday said it would let its companies drill for oil and gas in the disputed East China Sea. Beijing, which began drilling in 2003, called the move a "provocation". "All these issues bring obstructions and restrictions to the deepening of bilateral cooperation, and have the possibility of deteriorating the China-Japan relations," said Mr Tang. However, he dismissed suggestions that anti-Japanese rallies were backed by the Chinese government and resulted from "anti-Japanese education" in China. "I have to point out here that such allegations are totally groundless and a serious distortion of truth," he said. In a bid to salvage ties, Japan's Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura is scheduled to arrive in Beijing tomorrow for meetings with China's top leaders.
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