What struck me was the well-organized nature of the demonstration. A guy in a dark brown suit (no tie, though) diligently burned a Japanese flag; once aflame, it was quickly doused by another protester prudently equipped with a fire extinguisher. Then there was the designated hitter/screamer – a fellow wielding a broom stick (which, unbeknownst to me, may have some marshal arts significance) who – carried aloft by two stout men – delivered vicious blows with both ends of the stick to the head and body of a puppet of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi carried by a guy wearing a protective motor cycle helmet. And then there were the “riot police”, accompanying the protest march more like parade marshals at New York’s St Patrick’s Day parade up Fifth Avenue.
In another Asia Times piece “The price of Japanese nationalism,” Erich Marquardt writes, “Anti-Japanese protests that spread through China over the weekend are the latest manifestation of Japan’s growing nationalism.”
See also an Asahi Shimbun editorial: “A failure in diplomacy” and an International Herald Tribune editorial, “China’s reckless nationalism.”