China allowed a brief protest outside the Japanese Embassy and planned to sound sirens in more than 100 cities yesterday as it commemorated the start of Japan's 1931 invasion amid official unease at Tokyo's new diplomatic and military ambitions.
The official commemorations were the biggest to date and come at a time of rising anti-Japanese sentiment, stoked by a communist government that regards Japan as its rival for regional superpower status.
In Beijing, police let 20 protesters gather outside the Japanese Embassy. They held banners opposing Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and its claim to a disputed island chain.
"The Chinese people who have suffered the wounds of Japanese militarism must strain every nerve to be vigilant," one protester, Zhang Jianyong, said through a loudspeaker.
The demonstrators marched away after a few minutes waving Chinese flags and singing the national anthem. Zhang sounded a hand-cranked siren at 9:18am -- representing the Sept. 18 date of the 1931 invasion -- but it was quickly confiscated by police.
Cities throughout China also planned to sound air-raid sirens and hold public ceremonies.
The attack on the northeastern city of Shenyang, then known as Mukden, led to Japan's occupation of China's northeast. That was followed in 1937 by the occupation of much of China that lasted until Tokyo's 1945 surrender at the end of World War II.
Many Chinese resent what they regard as Japan's failure to atone for its aggression and millions of Chinese deaths.
The communist government keeps memories of the "Mukden Incident" alive through state media and schoolbooks and uses the date to rally nationalism. It was designated "National Defense Education Day" four years ago.
State media called on those attending formal commemorations yesterday to chant, "Do not forget national humiliation."
In Shenyang, several thousand people were expected to attend an hour-long memorial service at the city's monument to the invasion, according to the local government.
In Beijing, state television said several hundred students took part in a flag-raising ceremony at the elite Tsinghua University -- the alma mater of President Hu Jintao.
Chinese nationalism, especially among the young, has surged along with the country's economy and international influence.
For its part, the government has been alarmed at Tokyo's recent campaign for a bigger presence on the world stage, even though Japan is China's biggest trading partner and aid donor.
China, which aspires to be Asia's dominant force, worries about Japan's recent willingness to end a decades-old ban on military activity abroad by sending troops on UN missions and to Iraq -- the first to a combat zone in the post-war era.
China is also concerned that if Japan secures a seat on the UN Security Council, it could undercut Beijing's influence as the only Asian government among the current five permanent members.
Last year, widespread public anger was sparked by reports that several hundred Japanese tourists gathered for a three-day-long sex party with prostitutes at a hotel in southern China. The Chinese organizers received unusually heavy penalties of up to life in prison.
And during the recent Asian Cup soccer tournament in China, fans booed during the Japanese national anthem, displayed anti-Japanese signs and attacked the team's bus.
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