Asian Political News: Kyodo news summary -2-

TOKYO, April 16 Kyodo

---------- Thousands march in Shanghai, other cities in anti-Japan protest

BEIJING - Thousands marched toward the Japanese consulate in Shanghai on Saturday, accusing Japan of distorting its past wrongdoings and calling for a boycott of Japanese goods.

The demonstration, said to involve more than 5,000 people, marked the first time that the recent wave of anti-Japan rallies has spread to China's business capital.

---------- 2 U.S. warplanes apparently lost parts during drill over Japan

YOKOHAMA - Two U.S. warplanes apparently lost two pieces of external fixtures during a flight drill over Japan on Thursday but no damage has been reported on land, Kanagawa prefectural officials said Saturday.

The U.S. Navy found an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter without an aluminum fin and an EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare plane without part of a ladder after they returned to the Navy's Atsugi base in Kanagawa Prefecture, the officials said.

---------- Japan, Russia mark 150 years of relations in Shimoda

SHIMODA, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian Ambassador to Japan Alexander Losyukov joined other dignitaries Saturday in marking the 150th anniversary of bilateral relations at a ceremony in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture.

The event was held in this central Japan city where the two countries signed the Treaty of Commerce, Navigation and Delimitation in 1855.

---------- Machimura to visit China from Sunday to calm tensions

BEIJING - Anti-Japan protests in China, gas projects in disputed waters and a controversial Japanese history textbook will figure high on the agenda when Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura visits Beijing from Sunday on a mission to calm tensions between the two countries.

The trip by Machimura is effectively the highest-level possible visit to China from Japan because mutual trips by the countries' leaders have been halted since October 2001 over differences about Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

---------- Singapore likely to go ahead with casino to boost tourism

SINGAPORE - Singapore is expected to scrap its long-standing ban on casinos next week, overriding debate on an issue which has roused raging controversy in recent months, analysts say.

Last Saturday, members of the Cabinet reached a decision on the issue, which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will announce Monday in parliament.