Hong Kong has become the latest city to join China's growing wave of anti-Japan protests.

A crowd estimated by organizers at more than 12,000 people Sunday called on the Japanese government to apologize to China for past misdeeds.

Hong Kong's demonstrators were peaceful in contrast to their often raucous, rock- and paint-throwing counterparts on the mainland. And there were explicit calls here for China also to reassess its history by revisiting the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen massacre.

The protesters gathered at Victoria Park and marched to the SAR Government Headquarters, calling on the Japanese government to compensate victims of World War II and to stop occupying the Diaoyu Islands. They also protested a Japanese textbook, which they say whitewashes the country's war record, and opposed Tokyo's bid to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

Protesters burnt the Japanese military flag as well as an effigy of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

But the demonstration was generally peaceful and protesters remained calm while filing past Japanese department stores Sogo and Mitsukoshi and restaurant Yoshinoya.

David Ko, a committee member of the Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands, said the protest was aimed only against Japanese militarism.

``The Japanese are also our friends. We are not going to cause any damage to them,'' he said.

Japanese journalist Nobuko Saho, who works for Nippon TV, has been in Hong Kong for 10 years and covered previous anti-Japan rallies. ``Hong Kong people are rational and I was not worried about my personal safety when covering this protest,'' she said.

Some protesters came from the mainland. Businessmen Wu Zhizun, who took part in the rallies in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, opposed violent demonstrations. ``But we still have to express our opinions, and we hope that China can be a strong and respected country,'' he said.

Unlike the rallies on the mainland, the Hong Kong protesters rarely called for a boycott of Japanese products.

Sam Tam, who participated in the protest with his son, said people should be cautious about calling for boycotts of Japanese products given it would hurt many Chinese workers. ``Chinese society may become polarized,'' he said.

``It seems that the rallies on the mainland do not have a clear focus and direction.''

While the protesters were asking the Japanese government to respect history, the majority

were not happy when it was suggested that the Chinese government do the same.

A group of former student union activists were accosted by a small group of elderly men as they distributed leaflets asking the public not to forget June 4. Some pulled the hair of the former students.

Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China chairman Szeto Wah was booed at SAR Government Headquarters when he mentioned Tiananmen Square.

``In 1989 a protester in Beijing carried a banner saying the Nanjing Massacre was Japanese killing the Chinese, but June 4 was Chinese killing Chinese,'' he said.

Regardless of where they are from, no one should be allowed to rewrite history, Szeto said.

teddy.ng@singtaonewscorp.com

Shenzhen protests: A6