Protests continue over Diaoyu Islands row

BEIJING - Scores of demonstrators continued to protest outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing and the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang Friday morning, asserting the country's sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands.

As of 11:30 am, about 10 demonstrators had gone to the Japanese Embassy in Beijing to protest.

Two demonstrators who said they were from Southwest China's Sichuan province held banners, urging the Japanese government not to harm "the warriors who landed on the Diaoyu Islands".

They also tried to deliver a warning letter to staff members in the embassy, but failed.

Another demonstrator who tried to enter the embassy by force was stopped by police. Two senior citizens who threw eggs at the embassy compound were persuaded to leave.

At the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning province, a few local residents demonstrated with a 7-meter-long banner, expressing their indignation over Japan's detention of the Chinese nationals who landed on the Diaoyu Islands.

One demonstrator, who gave his name as Yangzi, said he preferred to protest in a reasonable manner and not with violence.

"That would bring our country trouble," he said.

Police vehicles could be seen outside the consulate general office, where dozens of police officers were maintaining order. Some pedestrians used their mobile phones to take pictures of the demonstration.

In the latest development, the Cabinet of Japan decided to release all 14 Chinese nationals who were arrested on Wednesday after seven of them landed on one of the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, the top spokesperson for the Japanese government told a press conference on Friday morning.

In response, China's Foreign Ministry said any of Japan's unilateral moves against Chinese nationals is "illegal and invalid".