BEIJING, China — University students were being kept on campus this weekend in at least two Chinese cities to prevent more anti-Japan protests, staff at the colleges said Saturday.
Recent tensions between the countries have been raised by a territorial dispute over islands in the East China Sea, and protests fueled by nationalism and decades-old anti-Japanese sentiment have broken out.
Thousands of students marched through the streets of a number of Chinese cities two weeks ago. The demonstrations were organized online and apparently startled China's leaders. Some marchers carried racist banners and smashed windows at Japanese retailers.
Last weekend, hundreds protested in the southwestern city of Deyang despite government orders that classes be in session as a way to prevent the protests.
Staff answering the phones Saturday at the Xian Sports College and at Donghu College of Wuhan University said all universities in the central city of Xian and the eastern city of Wuhan had been asked to keep students on campus this weekend.
The staffers said they are not authorized to talk to the media and did not give their names.
The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said in a fax Saturday that universities in the southwestern city of Chengdu and the eastern city of Nanjing face the same situation this weekend.
Police in Nanjing and Xian would not comment, and calls to police in Wuhan rang unanswered.
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