Anti-Japan demonstrations broke out in many cities, China urges Rational Patriotism

(AP Photo)

Last weekend, at least five major cities in China had the anti-Japanese demonstrations. The official People’s Daily published a signed article, to urge people to be rational and abide by the laws when expressing patriotism.

According to several media reports, the demonstrations in various cities are formed mainly by young people, and a few elderly also participated. Demonstrators held banners that said “Boycotting Japanese Goods”, “Defend the Diaoyu Islands” and so on. They asked the government to get tough on Japan.

Deyang City, Sichuan Province

Demonstration was held on Saturday in Deyang City, Sichuan Province. It was the second consecutive weekend of anti-Japanese demonstration. Despite the strict government regulations, thousands of people join the march.

Lanzhou, Gansu Province

Sunday morning, at a Square of the Gansu provincial capital, Lanzhou City, hundreds of people gathered to participate in the anti-Japanese demonstration. Young people shouted anti-Japanese slogans “Give us back our Diayu Islands”, “Boycott Japanese Goods”.

A nearby hotel employee told AFP reporter that the local government deployed a large number of police. Kyodo reported that the demonstration was controlled within one hour.

It is also reported that some colleges and universities in Lanzhou notified students and required them to return to school to study. They took row call and then locked the school gate to not let the students leave.

October 24, 2010, riot police to disperse anti-Japan protesters in Lanzhou, Gansu .

Baoji, Shaanxi Province

Following the anti-Japanese demonstration in Lanzhou in the morning, Baoji city, Shaanxi Province also had the anti-Japanese demonstration there in the afternoon. Demonstrators shouted out “Down with the little Japan” and “Boycott Japanese products”.

In order to control the situation, police detained some of the participants. On October 16, an anti-Japanese demonstration in the scale of thousands also broke out in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province.

Nanjing, Jiangsu Province

On Sunday, about 100 young people gathered at downtown Nanjing, but they were dispersed by the police after just one hour.

In addition, the Associated Press also reported, there were calls for more demonstrations on the Internet, including the rally planned on Tuesday in front of the Chongqing Japanese embassy. However this information was already blocked by China “although it could be found in search engine caches”.

People’s Daily published a signed article on Sunday (ChinaHush: which was heavily featured through all Chinese major websites and media). It said, it is understandable for some people to express anger towards Japan’s “wrongful actions”, however we advocate “lawful and rational patriotisms, we are not in favor of irrational and violating regulations. We believe the majority of people will turn the patriotic enthusiasm into actions of doing a good job at one’s own work and to safeguard the stability of reform and development.”

The article also said, in terms of the Sino-Japan issues, the Chinese government has always had a clear stand. After the recent uproar over the Diaoyu islands incidents, China has made it clear that the Diaoyu islands are China’s inherent territory since ancient times, China has indisputable sovereignty.

There are indications that the two governments are trying to ease tensions. In the past two days, two foreign ministries exchanged statements to encourage more cooperation.