Thousands protested in eastern China against Japan's wartime past on Saturday. But with thousands of paramilitary police on the streets of Beijing and students warned against protests, authorities headed off a repeat of last weekend's violent demonstrations in the capital, which Japan's foreign minister is to visit on Sunday. There was also calm in the southern city of Guangzhou and Chongqing in the southwest, where thousands marched last weekend. China has been accused of tacitly encouraging the unrest, which started in Guangdong and Sichuan provinces early this month, spread to Beijing last week and, now, to Tianjin, Shanghai and Hangzhou on the east coast. Chinese are protesting against school textbooks they say whitewash Japan's wartime atrocities in China, against Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, and on other disputes. In the third weekend of violent protests against Japan, thousands marched on the Japanese consulate in Shanghai, smashing its windows with rocks, pelting it with paint bombs and attacking Japanese restaurants along the way. Hundreds of paramilitary police in full riot gear stood by and appealed for order on loud hailers. Isolated scuffles broke out and about a dozen protesters were dragged away. --More 2032 Local Time 1732 GMT
