On April 19, more fuel was added to the fire when lawmakers in Japan announced they would visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war victims later in the week.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman immediately pointed out that those honoured at the shrine include 1,000 executed war criminals, or 'planners and conspirators' of World War II.
At the same time, the Tokyo high court upheld a lower court ruling rejecting demands to compensate Asian -- mainly Chinese -- victims of atrocities committed by the Japanese army in the 1930s and 1940s. These include the use of biological weapons, which some estimates say caused as many as 250,000 deaths.
As the protests intensified, a major Chinese retail association urged members to take products made by Asahai Breweries and MSG manufacturer Ajinomoto off their shelves.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi addresses the Asian African Summit in Jakarta, where he apologised for Japan's war crimes.
Photograph: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images
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