Japanese oil plan fuels Chinese anger

Nobutaka Machimura, the Japanese foreign minister who is due to visit Beijing tomorrow, said he hoped the trip would defuse tensions, but the bitter rivalry between the two countries looked set to intensify after Japan announced plans to drill for oil in a disputed area of the East China sea.

Work on building Chinese drilling platforms has already begun and after several failed requests to the Chinese that they should stop, Japan simply decided to start its own operations.

Protesters in Beijing are threatening a further mass demonstration against Japan this weekend, after a rally last week in which several thousand demonstrators pelted the Japanese embassy with stones and bottles, and smashed the windows of Japanese shops.

Japanese diplomats were once again warning their citizens to stay indoors and avoid confrontational situations.

However, Mr Machimura said: "I expect the upcoming meeting will be a step toward creating a better environment."

The confrontation over oil is worrying Japanese drilling companies that they may become stuck in the middle of a dangerous diplomatic row - or being attacked by China’s navy.

"If there is no diplomatic resolution and no guarantee that our workers will be safe, we as a private company cannot just jump in there and start working," a Teikoku Oil official said.

Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese prime minister, has described the area as "a promising source of energy".

"Our aim is to transform this from a sea of confrontation to a sea of co-operation," he said.

And the Chinese government appears finally to be taking steps to calm the most heated anti-Japanese protesters by asking them via the internet and text messages to "express your patriotic passion in an orderly manner". Beijing police have also issued a blunt warning to the public not to hold unauthorised rallies or upset social stability.

Popular protests in China began in March in opposition to Japan’s application for United Nations Security Council membership, its supposed failure to show contrition for its wartime actions, the "occupation" of a disputed chain of islands, the publication of controversial history textbooks and Mr Koizumi’s visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, a war memorial which includes the names of convicted war criminals.

The government’s recent stance in trying to curb the protests contrasts with its earlier inaction when it did little to discourage the protesters.

Last week it even took the unusual step of allowing foreign media unrestricted access in covering the Beijing demonstration.

However the protests seem to have emboldened others into making their feelings known forcibly about issues the Chinese government does not like to discuss.

Although Japan is China’s largest trading partner and employer of more than a million Chinese, Chinese activists are now calling for a month long boycott of Japanese goods to begin on 1 May.

Already, Japanese airlines and tour operators are reporting a drop in passenger travel to the mainland, though most Japanese companies say it is still too early to say whether the boycott is having any effect.