Chinese mobs escalate protests to Japan

TOKYO, April 11 (UPI) -- Anti-Japanese protests in China continued over the weekend with a demonstration Sunday by about 3,000 protesters in Guangzhou.

The rallies have focused on Japan's campaign to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.

However, they are also seen as an expression of discontent with a disputed junior high school history textbook recently approved by the Japanese government and over disputes that involve rights to subterranean resources under the East China Sea, the Asahi Shimbun reported Monday.

On Saturday, about 10,000 protesters marched to the Japanese Embassy in Beijing. Some demonstrators threw rocks and bottles at the embassy building, branch offices of Japanese companies and restaurants.

In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura summoned Chinese Ambassador Wang Yi to the ministry Sunday to protest the rock-throwing at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing.

Machimura also asked for a formal apology and compensation for damages to embassy facilities.

Responding to his protest, Wang explained that a large number of security personnel had been placed around the embassy but did not offer an apology officially.