China clamps down on anti-Japan protests

Reuters |

BEIJING - China moved quickly on Wednesday to snuff out more anti-Japan protests after days of angry demonstrations over a territorial dispute forced Japanese businesses to shut their doors and threatened an economic backlash.

Relations between Asia's two biggest economies have faltered badly, hitting their lowest point in decades on Tuesday when China marked the highly charged anniversary of Japan's 1931 occupation of its giant neighbour.

Tensions had run high on land and at sea, with four days of major protests in cities across China and Japanese and Chinese boats stalking each other in waters around a group of East China Sea islands at the centre of the dispute, known by Japan as the Senkaku and by China as the Diaoyu.

"It seems the protests in front of our embassy have subsided," the Japanese embassy in Beijing, the focal point of protests, said in an email to Japanese citizens.

The embassy cited a message from the Beijing public security bureau saying "the authorities ask for cooperation that there be no protests in the embassy district". Beijing's public security bureau was not immediately available for comment.

Outside the embassy, police moved on a lone protester who had been shouting "Defeat small Japan" early on Wednesday.

Japanese businesses shut hundreds of stores and factories across China, some sending workers back to Japan in fear the protests would get out of hand. Japan's Beijing embassy had been under siege by protesters throwing water bottles, waving Chinese flags and chanting slogans evoking Japan's occupation.

To prevent a repeat of those protests, large numbers of riot police were deployed around the embassy and Beijing's subway operator closed the station nearest to the Japanese mission.

On Air

Latest Bulletin

Latest Traffic report

Weather

21°C / -1°C

Thu 22°C -1°C

Fri 23°C 0°C

Sat 24°C 1°C

Sun 23°C 0°C

Mon 23°C 0°C

Tue 21°C -1°C

27°C / 9°C

Thu 26°C 10°C

Fri 24°C 11°C

Sat 20°C 13°C

Sun 18°C 12°C

Mon 17°C 11°C

Tue 17°C 11°C

26°C / 14°C

Thu 26°C 14°C

Fri 25°C 15°C

Sat 25°C 14°C

Sun 27°C 15°C

Mon 27°C 15°C

Tue 24°C 14°C

27°C / 8°C

Thu 21°C 11°C

Fri 23°C 13°C

Sat 29°C 15°C

Sun 23°C 12°C

Mon 18°C 11°C

Tue 18°C 8°C

19°C / 4°C

Thu 21°C 5°C

Fri 22°C 6°C

Sat 22°C 6°C

Sun 21°C 4°C

Mon 22°C 4°C

Tue 21°C 5°C

21°C / 8°C

Thu 27°C 11°C

Fri 27°C 11°C

Sat 25°C 10°C

Sun 25°C 10°C

Mon 27°C 12°C

Tue 29°C 13°C

27°C / 9°C

Thu 26°C 7°C

Fri 24°C 8°C

Sat 20°C 10°C

Sun 18°C 10°C

Mon 17°C 9°C

Tue 17°C 8°C

25°C / 13°C

Thu 22°C 14°C

Fri 20°C 14°C

Sat 26°C 15°C

Sun 22°C 12°C

Mon 20°C 12°C

Tue 17°C 10°C

20°C / 5°C

Thu 22°C 6°C

Fri 23°C 7°C

Sat 22°C 7°C

Sun 22°C 5°C

Mon 23°C 5°C

Tue 24°C 6°C

19°C / 4°C

Thu 21°C 5°C

Fri 23°C 7°C

Sat 22°C 7°C

Sun 21°C 5°C

Mon 22°C 5°C

Tue 24°C 6°C

25°C / 11°C

Thu 24°C 9°C

Fri 22°C 9°C

Sat 19°C 11°C

Sun 17°C 11°C

Mon 17°C 9°C

Tue 17°C 9°C

18°C / 0°C

Thu 20°C 0°C

Fri 21°C 1°C

Sat 20°C 0°C

Sun 19°C -1°C

Mon 20°C -1°C

Tue 22°C 0°C

My items

To view 'My Items', click here to register/log in

Recommended for you

No articles have been recommended for you, please check again later

VIDEO

AUDIO

IMAGES

CARTOONS

Email a Friend

China clamps down on anti-Japan protests

Multimedia

Timeline

China: No reason for island talks

China bird flu death toll reaches 9

China urges Japan to make amends

China congress alludes to new leadership

Feisty defence expected from Bo Xilai

Chinese man jailed for sounding bell 'too early'

China pulls out of IMF Tokyo meeting

Japan & China's island feud persists

Taiwan boats enter disputed China, Japan waters

China, Japan island quarrel continues

China jails disgraced ex-police chief

US dragged into China/Japan chaos

Anti-Japan protests reignite across China

Anti-Japan protests in China continue

Anti-Japanese protests in China