Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura flew to China on Sunday to try to heal relations as new anti-Japan protests erupted in cities across the country a day after violent demonstrations in Shanghai. The Chinese are furious at a revised Japanese school textbook they say whitewashes atrocities during Japan's 1931-45 occupation of China and at Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. Machimura was due to go into an evening meeting in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart, Li Zhaoxing. Meanwhile, Japanese Trade Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said the violence in China could hurt the Asian giant's global image and economy. "Fear is increasing not only among Japanese firms but others that if they upset China, their companies could be destroyed," he told a Sunday TV programme. The downturn in Sino-Japanese ties comes a time when rivalry and mistrust are festering despite economic ties that generate $178 billion in annual trade.
