Anti-Japan protesters rally in China over boat row

Waving banners and chanting anti-Japanese slogans, protesters staged rallies in China on Saturday to voice anger over the arrest of a Chinese trawler captain which has sparked a major diplomatic row.

"Down with little Japan", "free our captain" and "remember September 18", demonstrators shouted in Beijing as sirens rang out to commemorate Saturday's highly sensitive anniversary of Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931.

Beijing is furious about the seizure of a Chinese fishing boat near a disputed island chain in the East China Sea and the subsequent arrest of the captain.

Tokyo says he intentionally rammed two Japanese coastguard vessels during a high-seas chase on September 7.

The incident has sparked the worst tensions between the Asian neighbours in years, with Beijing summoning Tokyo's ambassador five times in a week and scrapping scheduled talks over joint energy exploration in the East China Sea.

The uninhabited islands - called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, and also claimed by Taiwan - lie in an area with rich fishing grounds that is also believed to contain oil and gas deposits.

Tokyo had warned its citizens in China to remain vigilant to ensure their safety in the event of any backlash over the dispute.

More than 100 demonstrators rallied near Japan's embassy in Beijing and a group also stopped outside the Chinese foreign ministry, where they chanted "down with the traitors to the motherland" and urged China to "retake the Diaoyu islands".

In Shanghai, around 20 demonstrators gathered near the Japanese consulate and several were arrested, an AFP journalist witnessed. Other protesters tried unsuccessfully to block the police car taking them away.

Sirens wailed in several cities to mark the anniversary of Japan's occupation of a swathe of northern China which began with an assault on the city of Shenyang 79 years ago.

The atrocities committed by Japanese forces have cast a long shadow over relations between the two economic powerhouses, with frequent calls on Tokyo to apologise.

About 70 protesters marched through central Hong Kong towards the Japanese consulate, chanting for the return of the ship's captain and the disputed island chain.

"The Diaoyu islands are Chinese territory but they're under the control of the Japanese government," Derek Lien, 24, told AFP. "We want the ship's captain returned and an apology."

Albert Ho, chairman of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, called on Tokyo to "tender an unqualified written apology" over the maritime incident and "immediately return the Diaoyu islands to our country".

"We want to let the Japanese understand the feelings of our nation," Ho told reporters.

Protesters held Chinese flags and waved banners with slogans such as "Chinese people can't be put down by the Japanese government", while Ho called for "reasonable compensation for war crimes" committed during the Manchurian invasion.

"Money is not the problem -- the Japanese government needs to apologise for history," Will Tan, 31, told AFP. "They made mistakes and did bad things to Chinese people."

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