At least 4,000 people participate in anti-Chinese rallies in Yokohama.

YOKOHAMA, November 14 (Itar-Tass) - At least 4,000 people participated
in stormy anti-Chinese rallies that passed on Saturday in Yokohama near
the place of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC).
Organisers of actions reported on Sunday that nobody had been
arrested. However, police did not permit protesters to approach the area
where the summit is held at the Pacifico Yokohama conference complex. It
is securely guarded by paramilitary police, and all roads leading there
are fenced off by block posts.
Anti-Chinese rallies were organised by a bloc of rightists and
conservative organisations, headed by the retired military. They demand
that the Japanese government should take a stiffer position against
Beijing in connection with a recent collision of a ship, flying the
Chinese flag, and Japanese coastguard boats in the area of disputable
islands in the East China Sea.
Following this incident, mass anti-Japanese demonstrations were held
in China; they were accompanied by attacks on Japanese cars and offices.
Beijing also curtailed contacts with Tokyo at the top level. On Saturday,
Chinese President Hu Jintao met Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on the
sidelines of the APEC summit.
It was not clear up to the last minute whether the meeting would be
held or not. Incidentally, the meeting lasted only 23 minutes and did not
yield any serious results.
Apart from anti-Chinese actions, no other demonstrations were recorded
in Yokohama, timed to coincide with the APEC summit. Usually noisy
anti-globalists have not demonstrated themselves in any way so far.
-0-bur/gor