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Anti-Japan Protesters March in Beijing BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese protesters chanted slogans and burned Japanese flags on Saturday as more than 1,000 turned out in the capital to demand a boycott of Japanese goods over Tokyo's refusal to admit to World War II atrocities. The demonstration in the Beijing neighborhood of Zhongguancun, known for its electronics shops and home to a large student population, comes less than a week after anti-Japanese protests in other Chinese cities turned violent. "Japan doesn't face up to its history," said protester Cheng Lei, a 27-year-old IT professional. "We want to express our feelings so the Japanese government knows what we think. I haven't bought any Japanese goods since I was at university." Protests in China, where the Communist leadership is concerned about maintaining stability at a time of wrenching social change and a widening gap between rich and poor, are rare. Past demonstrations outside the Japanese embassy have typically been heavily policed and choreographed events involving about 50 people, with short speeches, some singing and petitions or letters being presented to the mission. Many Chinese harbor deep resentment of Japan's wartime aggression and its failure to own up to atrocities, feelings exacerbated by Tokyo's approval on Tuesday of a school history textbook critics say whitewashes Japanese war crimes. "Across the country, the mood to refuse Japanese goods is high, but nothing has been done about this. Therefore, patriotic students have organized themselves," said a notice circulated by e-mail on Friday. On Saturday, the mostly student protesters carried signboards with lists of Japanese brand names crossed out and chanted slogans outside an electronics plaza urging the boycott. Some wore red signs pasted to their chests bearing a traditional Chinese dragon and reading "Reject Japanese goods." Others began kicking a Toyota car caught in the middle of the crowd before it managed to drive away. Police guarded the entrance to the electronics plaza to stop demonstrators from pushing inside, and at least 20 police vans stood by to prevent the protest from escalating. At one intersection, pedestrians applauded as the protesters marched past. Across the city, police set up a roadblock in front of the Japanese ambassador's residence in northeastern Beijing. Last weekend protesters smashed windows at a Japanese supermarket in the southwestern city of Chengdu after a demonstration there against Japan's bid for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat turned violent. Demonstrators also took to the streets in Guangzhou, Chongqing and the southern city of Shenzhen, where two Japanese department stores were vandalized. Domestic media said millions of Chinese had also signed an online petition opposing the bid for a seat. "I came because we want Japan to face up to its history, to recognize its mistakes," said a 21-year-old university student surnamed Yang. "I try not to buy Japanese goods, but there are so many it's sometimes hard to tell." Reuters 2005 People's Daily Online  Back to News from China |
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