Protests broke out in both Chinese and Japanese cities over ownership of the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands, weeks after a bilateral dispute erupted in the area when a Chinese fisherman was detained by Japan. From the Financial Times:
An estimated crowd of 2,000 gathered in downtown Chengdu, capital of China’s southwestern Sichuan Province, from early afternoon, unfurling banners and shouting “Defend the Diaoyu Islands”, “Fight Japan” and other slogans.
Students from several universities marched under the watchful eye of large numbers of police spread out to cordon off shopping malls, some of which were reportedly damaged. A Reuters photographer estimated there were a few hundred police.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that in Xian, the capital of northwestern Shaanxi province, thousands of college students marched with flags and banners, shouting slogans such as “Diaoyu Islands are China’s” and “Boycott Japanese goods.”
In Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan province, college students thronged to a downtown square.