Two arrested for violent anti-Japan protests

Another two people allegedly involved in illegal beatings, vandalism and looting during a September protest march against Japan’s “purchase” of China’s Diaoyu Islands were arrested in this Guangdong provincial capital.

Guangzhou Yuexiu District Procuratorate officially approved the arrest of the two on Wednesday.

The suspects surnamed Zha and Yang will be prosecuted under law, according to a statement from Guangzhou Yuexiu District Procuratorate.

Zha and Yang were believed to have destroyed the outer glass wall, tables and chairs, fish tank, floor and wall of a Japanese style restaurant in the second floor of Garden Hotel where the Japanese Consulate General is in Guangzhou’s busy Huanshi road.

Zha also allegedly used a fire extinguisher to spray everywhere inside the restaurant. The direct economic loss of the restaurant was more than 70,000 yuan ($11,100).

Zha and Yang violated Chinese laws and regulations when they destroyed and damaged public property in the city’s public places and disrupted social order, said the procuratorate’s statement.

Zha, 18, who is unemployed, comes from Xiushui county of East China’s Jiangxi province, while Yang, 38, is native of Xianyou county of Fujian province.

Earlier this month, Guangzhou’s Tianhe district procuratorate also approved the arrest of five people allegedly involved in illegal beatings, vandalism and looting during the September protests.

The five suspects joined the demonstration on the city’s busy Tianhe Road on Sept 16, and kicked and threw stones at a Japanese-brand car parked on the roadside. The car was later overturned and the suspects removed its license plate. Tianhe Road traffic came to a standstill, officials said.

Police officers on the scene detained the suspects. The prosecutors said the suspects, all men, violated laws and regulations.

“The arrest of the five suspects is expected to help guide and educate local residents to rationally express their patriotic enthusiasm during protest demonstrations,” according to sources with the Tianhe district procuratorate.