More than 10,000 Chinese have joined the Saturday rally in Beijing protesting Japan's distortion of its wartime past and Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

People, echoing a call on Internet bulletin boards, came to the Hailong shopping center in northern Beijing's Haidian district, carrying Chinese flags and anti-Japanese banners.

Japan officially approved new textbook on Tuesday which glosses over Japanese wartime atrocities.

The gathering participants called out slogans as "boycott Japanese-made products," "safeguard Diaoyu Islands," and "smash Japan's daydream of seeking permanent seat on the UN Security Council."

About 1,000 people started the gathering in the morning and more people joined the protest. The number reached 10,000 at noon, and the group marched from Zhongguancun street to the east part of Beijing where the Japanese Embassy locates.  

The police were keeping the order along the route.

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2005)