The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau instructed city residents Wednesday to stop anti-Japanese protests via short text messages that stated the “protests have settled down.”
The text messages indicate the Chinese government, which had not imposed measures restricting protests regarding Japan’s purchase of three of the Senkaku Islands, has changed its policy and decided to ban such protests in the capital for the moment.
The messages were sent to Beijing residents’ cell phones Wednesday morning, and stated: “Traffic in the embassy district has returned to normal. Do not go to that area for any more protests.”
Automobile regulations for the road in front of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing were also lifted. As of noon Wednesday, no protests had been held in front of the embassy. Despite calls for demonstrations in other areas of the city Wednesday, no protests had been reported on the day.
More ships spotted
The number of Chinese surveillance ships sailing in and around the contiguous zone near the Senkaku Islands in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, increased to 14 on Wednesday, sources said. A Japan Coast Guard patrol boat found that two new Chinese fishery surveillance ships entered the 22-kilometer strip beyond Japan’s territorial waters on Wednesday morning.
Twelve other ships–10 marine surveillance ships and two fishery surveillance ships–that had entered the zone Tuesday were also seen sailing in areas near the contiguous zone on Wednesday. The JCG has dispatched patrol boats to the zone. Exercising caution, the boats ran parallel to the Chinese ships.
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