Hundreds protest in Tokyo

More than a thousand Japanese nationalists took to the streets of Tokyo on Saturday (September 22), to protest against China's claims to a handful of disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Organisers from right-wing group Ganbare Nippon said about 1500 people attended the demonstration to assert Japan's sovereignty over the islands, known as Diaoyu in China and called Senkaku by the Japanese.

Relations between Asia's two biggest economies have faltered badly since September 11 when Japan said it had bought three disputed islands from a private owner, ignoring warnings from China.

Beijing responded to the purchase by sending two patrol ships to reassert its claim.

In Beijing, Japanese businesses had to shut across the country and the Japanese embassy came under siege from protesters hurling water bottles, waving Chinese flags, and chanting anti-Japan slogans.