Sales of Toyota cars in China plunged by 50 per cent on-month in September amid an anti-Japan backlash over disputed islands, a report said on Friday.

The Japanese auto giant -- the world's largest c

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reshuffled his cabinet on Monday, naming Koriki Jojima, a senior member of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), as new finance minister.

Foreign Minister

Japan released yet more worrying figures Friday showing the world's third largest economy was already stuttering before a damaging territorial dispute erupted with its largest trading partner.

Factor

While Chinese state media has warned Japan that it will suffer economically for nationalising disputed islands, analysts say China has too much to lose to impose any serious sanctions.

The world's se

The anti-Japan demonstrations in China over disputed islands on Monday took an ugly turn with protesters attacking some of the top Japanese firms, including Panasonic and Canon, hitting flourishing

China's Vice-President Xi Jinping has made his first public appearance in two weeks, state media said on Saturday, following swirling speculation about the whereabouts of Beijing's leader-in-waiting.

Six Chinese government ships sailed into waters around disputed islands early Friday, the Japanese coastguard said, adding it had issued warning for them to leave.

The arrival came just days after th

Japan's government has agreed to buy a group of islands at the centre of a territorial dispute with China, reports said Wednesday, a move likely to prove a further irritant in a tense relationship.

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A team of Japanese surveyors Sunday sailed to a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea which the nationalistic governor of Tokyo wants to buy amid a widening diplomatic row with China.

Tokyo

Protests against Japan broke out in more than a dozen Chinese cities including Beijing on Sunday, as authorities allowed thousands of people to vent their anger over an escalating territorial row.

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