China’s top internal security official urged people to stay within the law in voicing patriotism, as a fresh protest against Japan flared yesterday following one that turned against the Beijing government.
Ties between China and Japan, the two biggest Asian economies, tumbled last month after the detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain by the Japanese coast guard after their boats collided near -disputed islands in East China Sea.
Zhou Yongkang (周永康), the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) top law-and-order official, made the remarks in a Monday meeting after weekend protests against Japan in two inland Chinese cities, Lanzhou and Baoji, each drew hundreds of demonstrators.
“We must strengthen propaganda and opinion work to guide the public to voice its patriotic aspirations in a rational and orderly way according to the law, protecting social and political stability,” Zhou told officials, according to the People’s Daily, the main paper of the CCP.
A fresh protest broke out in Chongqing yesterday, when about 500 demonstrators crowded outside the building housing the Japanese consulate for the southwest riverside city.
The students and young people held up red Chinese flags and -placards demanding that Tokyo abandon claims to islands in the East China Sea that China claims as the Diaoyu (釣魚) Islands, while Japan calls them the Senkaku Islands. Taiwan also claims the island chain, calling them the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台).
“The Diaoyu Islands belong to China,” some yelled as police officers kept a careful distance.
The protesters have demanded a tougher line against Tokyo, following similar demonstrations by thousands of Chinese and Japanese last week that focused on claims to islands in the East China Sea claimed by both nations.
In Baoji, a small city in Shaanxi Province, a few protesters turned their anger against the Chinese government, denouncing corruption and high housing costs and unfurling a sign demanding a multi-party political system, according to Japanese and Hong Kong news footage and reports.
The CCP has long been wary of protests against foreign targets becoming a magnet for domestic discontent that could unsettle one-party rule. Such anti-government protests are deemed illegal and organizers face arrest.
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