China: Anger Over Island Landings By Japanese

There have been violent protests in parts of China after Japanese activists landed on a group of disputed islands at the centre of a territorial row between the two countries.

The action by nationalists, who raised flags on the uninhabited archipelago in the East China Sea, has further escalated tensions.

The latest anti-Japan protests were believed to be the most widespread in China since 2005. In the southern city of Shenzhen, around 1,000 people took part in a march.

Protesters overturned a Japanese-made police car and damaged a Japanese restaurant, said the official Xinhua news agency.

More than 100 people gathered near a complex housing the Japanese consulate in the southern city of Guangzhou, chanting "Japan get out of the Diaoyu Islands", it said.

The protest came after 10 Japanese activists made an unauthorised landing and raised flags on Uotsuri, the largest in a small archipelago known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands and in China as Diaoyu Islands.

Members of the right-wing group Gambare Nippon (Hang In There Japan) swam ashore, according to a witness, from a 20-boat flotilla carrying activists and politicians.

It happened just a few days after 14 pro-China activists from Hong Kong and the mainland travelled to the islands and planted a Chinese flag. They were arrested and later deported by Japan.

China's foreign ministry said: "The illegal behavior of Japanese right-wingers has violated China's territorial sovereignty.

"An official from the foreign ministry has solemnly expressed to the Japanese ambassador in China (our) strong protest, and urge the Japanese side to stop behaviours that hurt China's territorial sovereignty."

Tokyo and Beijing have been feuding for decades over the island chain, near potentially huge maritime gas fields.

The uninhabited islands, surrounded by rich fishing grounds, are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan.

Two Japanese coastguard ships nearby repeatedly demanded the activists leave the island, but without the authority to arrest on land they were powerless.

The protesters had wanted to reach the island's summit, but settled instead for planting their flags on the hillside and on the shore.

Coastguard officers boarded some of the vessels to question people. No arrests were made.

The recent visit by the Chinese activists had led to calls by critics of Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda's government to take stronger action to protect the islands.

Some politicians want Japan's military to be brought in.