Dozens of Japanese businesses shut operations in China yesterday and urged their expatriate executives to stay indoors, fearing an escalation of protests triggered by Tokyo’s decision to nationalise a group of islands claimed by Beijing.

There have been widespread and increasingly violent demonstrations across China since the Japanese government last week announced it had bought the Senkaku islands – known as the Diaoyu islands in China – from their private owner. Protests continued yesterday, forcing companies including Fast Retailing, owner of the Uniqlo brand, to close Beijing outlets.

Protests are expected to continue today, the 81st anniversary of the start of the 1931 Mukden or Manchurian Incident, in which the Imperial Japanese Army blew up a railway as a pretext for invading northeastern China.