Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Sunday that the
responsibility for the current situation of Sino-Japanese relations
does not lie with China.?
Qin said, "Japan must adopt an earnest attitude and appropriate
ways to deal with major issues of principle concerning the feelings
of the Chinese people. The Japanese have to do more things
conducive to enhancing mutual trust and maintaining the relations
between the two countries, rather than doing the reverse."
Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura on Sunday demanded
an official apology and compensation from China for Saturday's
attack on the Japanese embassy in Beijing by demonstrators.
Qin said that the Chinese government has been appealing to
demonstrators to remain calm and sane and to express their opinions
in a lawful and orderly way.
He said the government has done a great deal to ensure the
safety of Japanese citizens and organizations in China, and that it
does not want so see the very few radical actions that occurred
during the demonstrations in Beijing.
On Saturday, thousands of protestors gathered at the Hailong
shopping center in Beijing's Haidian District, carrying banners
decrying Japan's distortion of its wartime past in newly approved
history textbooks and its bid for a permanent seat on the UN
Security Council.
Participants called out slogans such as "Boycott Japanese
products," "Protect the Diaoyu Islands" and "Smash Japan's daydream
of seeking a permanent seat on the UN Security Council" as they
marched to the embassy.
The government mobilized a huge police force to maintain order
en route.
(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2005)