Members of community groups held a rally in Hong Kong yesterday in the latest show of resentment against the Japanese Government's approval of a history textbook revision that whitewashes its wartime atrocities.

They also opposed Japan's bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and its occupation of China's Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

Yesterday morning, about 30 protesters from 10 community organizations marched through Central and Admiralty, shouting "Against militarism" and waving a banner that read "Accept wartime responsibilities. Return us Diaoyu Islands". Led by Hong Kong & Kowloon Trades Union Council, the protesters marched up to the Japanese consulate to hand over a letter of protest.

From there, they marched to the US consulate, asking Washington to veto Tokyo's bid seeking a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

The chairman of the union council, Lee Kwok-keung, said: "We are outraged that the Japanese and US governments have acted in collusion to intrude China's territorial sovereignty on the Diaoyu Islands. The Japanese army massacred and committed other heinous crimes in China during World War II. But it has refused to face up to its history of militarism and aggression."

Before the 60th anniversary of China's victory over Japanese aggression forces, the Japanese Government should fulfil its historical responsibility of admitting its wartime crimes and compensating its victims, Lee said.

The Japanese Government has publicly supported the right-wing activists to occupy the Diaoyu Islands, he added.

The petroleum-rich island group lies in the East China Sea between Japan's southern island of Okinawa and China's Taiwan.

The islands are uninhabited but surrounded by waters rich in fish and other marine life. Japan claimed the chain of islands in 1895, though it had been under Chinese sovereignty for centuries. The US administered the islands after World War II but handed over their control to Japan in 1972, sparking worldwide protest by the Chinese.

(China Daily HK Edition April 19, 2005)