Security Tight as Thousands Protest Outside Japanese Embassy in Beijing - Wall Street Journal (blog)

Reuters

Protesters holding posters of China’s late Chairman Mao Zedong, Chinese national flags and banners as soldiers and policemen stand guard during a protest on the 81st anniversary of Japan’s invasion of China, outside the Japanese embassy in Beijing, September 18, 2012.

If Beijing is going to see major anti-Japanese unrest today, the police appear to be ready.

Thousands gathered in front of the Japanese embassy in the Chinese capital on Tuesday morning under the watch of what might have been as many security personnel.

The crowd’s numbers were growing rapidly as the morning went on. Many carried portraits of Mao Zedong. But the scene was still considerably quieter than the protests that erupted over the weekend over disputed islands in the East China Sea when demonstrators engaged in shoving matches with police. The demonstrations are among the largest anti-Japan protests to break out in China.

September 18 is the anniversary of a staged bombing by the Japanese military of a Japanese-owned railroad near the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang that provided the pretext for Japan to invade northern China in 1931. Known in English as the Mukden Incident, the event is portrayed in China as a key humiliation in what Chinese history text books describe as the country’s “century of shame.”

“Don’t stop here. Look out for your safety,” said police through megaphones as they tried to keep the crowd from gathering near the embassy.

Police recordings playing on a loop said the government shares the sentiments of the protesters over the island dispute with Japan, but urged them not to take illegal actions.

Police appeared to have also stepped up their presence around local business. Japanese restaurants near the embassy had been pinned with signs saying the Senkaku islands belong to China.

â€"Brian Spegele. Follow him on Twitter @bspegele.

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