Japan, however, avoided escalating the war of words, saying dialogue is needed to resolve the feuds.

Simmering tensions between the two Asian giants over a range of topics, especially what Beijing sees as Japan's failure to own up to wartime atrocities, erupted in the mainland at the weekend, with thousands taking part in protests that turned violent. The situation worsened Wednesday after Japan announced it had started procedures to allocate rights for test-drilling in a disputed area of the East China Sea. China reacted angrily Thursday.

``This move by Japan is a serious provocation of China's rights and international norms,'' said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

``China has already made a protest to Japan and reserves the right to take further action,'' Qin said.

China and Japan, respectively the world's second- and third-biggest oil consumers, are at odds over the mainland's exploration for natural gas near an area Japan claims as its exclusive economic zone.

In response to Qin's remarks, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda urged dialogue.

``As the prime minister said yesterday [Wednesday], it is in the interest of both Japan and China to make the East China Sea a sea of cooperation rather than a sea of confrontation,'' Hosoda said. ``We believe that we need to discuss this from a broad perspective.''

A senior mainland lawmaker and member of the Communist Party's elite Central Committee visiting Japan also stressed the need to work together, a Japanese official said.

``There is a problem between our countries due to reasons which are already known. But more than that, we have a relationship of cooperation,'' Lu Yongxiang, in Tokyo with a delegation of mainland lawmakers, was quoted as telling Yohei Kono, the speaker of the lower house of Japan's parliament.

The weekend protests, triggered by Japan's approval of textbooks critics say whitewashes its past military aggression and colonisation, also took aim at Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Since then, the two sides have traded barbs, pointing the finger at each other.

Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura repeated Tokyo's demand for an apology and compensation for damage caused by the protests, and criticised Beijing's stance.

``Whatever the reason, destructive actions are not acceptable,'' he told a parliamentary panel Thursday.

``We cannot accept remarks which appear to put the blame on Japan.''

Machimura heads for Beijing Sunday for talks aimed at seeking a way out of the impasse that has put Sino-Japanese ties in the worst state in perhaps three decades.

REUTERS