Police across China battled to control widespread anti-Japan demonstrations for a second day yesterday, as Beijing appeared to tread a fine line between sending a message to Tokyo while not allowing social unrest that might destabilise domestic political transition.
Thousands of apparently well-organised demonstrators, some of them carrying portraits of Mao Zedong, were met with a heavy police presence in several cities as Japan’s prime minister called on Beijing to protect its nationals and companies.
The weekend protests, the biggest flare-up of anti-Japan sentiment since at least 2005, were sparked by Tokyo’s decision to buy the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands. Sovereignty over the islands, located in the East China Sea and known as Diaoyu in China, is also claimed by both Beijing and Taiwan. On Friday six Chinese state vessels entered Japanese waters around the islands, a move condemned by Tokyo.