Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan today expressed regret over a wave of anti-Japanese protests in China at the weekend. Reacting to the protests in parliament, Kan strongly requested that Japanese companies be protected. The protests were sparked by a territorial dispute between the Asian neighbours. At the weekend, thousands of Chinese protesters took to the streets of several cities to assert China's claim to a disputed island chain, called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China. The demonstrators also smashed windows of Japanese stores and shouted angry anti-Japanese slogans.