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Tue Apr 26,12:05 AM ET
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By ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press Writer
SHANGHAI, China - Authorities in Shanghai have detained 42 people and formally arrested 16 accused of "disturbing social order" during recent anti-Japanese protests, in the government's sternest warning so far against further unrest, state media reported Tuesday.
State-run Shanghai Television ran footage identifying several of those suspected of throwing bottles at the Japanese consulate and smashing windows of restaurants thought to be Japanese-owned during the demonstrations, which involved up to 20,000 people.
"I regret my behavior very much," said one of the young men detained, identified as Zhang Jianyong of southern China's Hubei province. "I should not have broken the law."
Zhang was accused of climbing onto the roof of a building and throwing stones and bottles at Japanese bars and shops, the state-run newspaper Shanghai Daily reported.
The reports did not condemn the protests, saying that most participants were peaceful. But they said violence and other forms of "disturbing social order" would not be tolerated.
As is often the case in communist-ruled China, authorities were keeping close track of protest participants. On the television news, several people shown smashing windows of Japanese restaurants near the consulate, in the city's Hongqiao district, had their heads circled in red.
The same people were later shown in handcuffs, expressing remorse for their actions.
Police allowed the massive protest on April 16, one of many across the country, to proceed despite warnings against unauthorized demonstrations. But last week the Public Security Ministry warned against organizing any further rallies.
Last weekend, thousands of police and riot troops were stationed near the Japanese Embassy in Beijing and the Japanese Consulate in Shanghai, apparently to deter any further violence.
Of the 42 seized by Shanghai police following the protests, 26 were put in "short-term detention" and another 16 formally arrested, it said.
The reports said an investigation into the protests was continuing.
Activists' had called for more protests on the May 1 Labor Day holiday and on May 4, the date of a 1919 student uprising over a treaty that ceded part of China to Japan. But several of the activists' Web sites have been closed down amid warnings against organizing protests online or through cell phone short messages.
Police urged those who committed crimes during the protests to surrender and said other residents should inform on people involved in the violence, the Shanghai Daily said.
"Round up the usual suspects."