video transcript

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) Over 100 protesters marched up to the Japanese embassy in Beijing for a third day of protests against the country's purchase of disputed islands. Police allowed them to pass by the embassy in groups of 40 or so, many sang the Chinese national anthem and shouted slogans. Some protesters held up placards and a defaced Japanese flag before tearing it up. Others marched holding a huge Chinese national flag. The row is the latest episode in troubled relations between the two neighbours. Their long-running territorial dispute erupted again last month when Japan detained a group of Chinese activists who had landed on the disputed islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. China warned on Thursday that trade with Japan could be hurt by the sudden flare-up in tension over a small group of disputed islands. The latest volley of warnings from China follows Japan's announcement on Tuesday that it had bought the disputed islands in the East China Sea from a private Japanese owner, an act that Beijing called a violation of its sovereignty.