More protests over Japan-China island flap

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BEIJING, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Japan's prime minister Sunday called on China to make sure its citizens were protected as anti-Japanese protesters again took to the streets of Chinese cities.

Demonstrators demanding Japan turn over a group of disputed islands to China rallied outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing and at locations in Shanghai and other major cities.

Similar protests took place in more than 50 cities nationwide Saturday. One march in Qingdao got out of hand and resulted in the looting of a Toyota dealership and a fire at a Panasonic factory, The New York Times said.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said in a televised appearance he insisted Chinese authorities safeguard Japanese citizens in China.

The two nations have extensive trade ties but sovereignty over the islands, known in Japan as the Senkaku islands, has been a sore point. The Times said the Communist Party newspaper The People's Daily ran an editorial Sunday calling the demonstrations a sign of Chinese patriotism.