BEIJING -- Protests against the United States and NATO spread throughout China yesterday as angry demonstrators escalated attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites, carrying signs that demanded revenge and roughing up Westerners.
Demonstrations were reported in at least 12 Chinese cities, most of them involving university students. No serious injuries were reported, but property damage mounted, with police allowing chunks of concrete, paint-filled balloons and eggs to be thrown at Western embassies.
NATO again apologized for Friday's airstrike on the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia, but that did not satisfy the young demonstrators -- or the Chinese government, which approved the demonstrations.
More than 10,000 irate protesters marched through the capital's diplomatic district again yesterday, stepping up their attacks on the U.S. and British embassies and besieging the compounds for a second consecutive day.
"No question that we're hostages here," U.S. Ambassador James Sasser told the CBS program "Face the Nation" yesterday. He said rock throwers had broken nearly every window in the embassy's chancery and his personal residence and that embassy staff members could not leave.
The U.S. Embassy will be closed for the next two days along with the consulates in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang and Chengdu, the State Department said last night. The State Department also suspended government travel to China and urged American citizens to defer trips until conditions stabilize.
By early today, the protesters appeared to have ended their two-day siege. Sasser and his family emerged from embassy buildings for the first time since Friday. Sasser's wife, Mary, and their son Gray moved to a hotel in the capital early this morning, but the ambassador told CNN he was still unable to leave the embassy's main office building severalblocks from his home.
Yesterday's protests were the largest since the Tiananmen Square democracy demonstrations in 1989 and the biggest aimed at Western powers since the Cultural Revolution of three decades ago.
Responding to fears that the situation might spin out of control, Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao expressed support for the protests but added that China would defend Westerners and foreign embassies.
Westerners defended
"We will protect foreign diplomatic organs and personnel, foreign nationals in China and those who have come to China to engage in trade, economic, educational and cultural undertakings," Hu said in a national broadcast on China Central Television.
Elsewhere, anti-NATO protests were reported yesterday from Shanghai on the east coast to Lanzhou in the far west.
The official Xinhua news agency said tens of thousands of students took to the streets of the ancient capital of Xian, where protesters compared the NATO bombing to the work of "pirates."
In the central industrial city of Nanjing, students staged a sit-down protest outside a KFC restaurant and plastered windows with posters saying "Strike the U.S. Economy." A foreign student was beaten, witnesses said.
In the southern city of Guangzhou, 95 miles northwest of Hong Kong, more than 10,000 protesters marched past the U.S. Consulate, throwing bottles, burning American flags and chanting "Stop American mad dogs from biting." Protesters also smashed the glass doors to the German Consulate in Guangzhou last night, Hong Kong's Cable Television reported.
For the second consecutive day, more than 10,000 university students poured into the Beijing diplomatic district by bus.
Demonstrators pelted the three U.S. Embassy compounds with eggs, red and blue paint and chunks of concrete sidewalk tile. They also tossed flaming balls of paper over fences in failed attempts to burn the American flag. At least one protester climbed over an embassy fence before being removed by police.
Hundreds of Chinese police stood three and four deep in front of U.S. embassy buildings and maintained relative order as demonstrators marched past carrying signs with messages such as "A debt of blood must be repaid in blood," "North Atlantic Terrorist Organization" and "United Savages of America."
When protesters hurled pieces of concrete at the windows, crowds yelled, "Beautiful" as though they were watching a sporting event. Demonstrators greeted the sound of breaking glass with the kinds of cheers usually reserved for soccer goals.
Sitting in the branch of a fir tree, a young man in sweat pants led thousands of Chinese in a heartfelt chant: "Long Live China!"
Most foreigners avoided the area for fear of reprisals. One demonstrator hit CNN correspondent Rebecca MacKinnon on the head during a live telephone broadcast. As the crowd shouted "Kill her! Beat her!" students came to her rescue. Other Western reporters were pushed, punched and kicked.
Rock throwers also targeted the British and Albanian embassies in Beijing and gathered at the German Embassy.
The Albanian Embassy said it was attacked because the students believe Albania has sided with NATO against Yugoslavia. Demonstrators jumped over the Albanian embassy's wall for brief intrusions but were thrown out by Chinese police.
One reason for the protesters' unstinting anger is that most believe NATO deliberately attacked the embassy in Yugoslavia with the intent of killing Chinese people. That so many Chinese subscribe to this theory is a testament to the country's state-run media and the power of nationalism here.
Chinese newspapers say that NATO fired three missiles at the embassy in Belgrade from different directions. Three Chinese -- all journalists -- were killed and more than 20 wounded.
'Evil motive'
"This totally exposes the evil motive of the invaders," said an editorial in People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party. "This is a blood debt that NATO owes Chinese people."
At the same time, the Chinese media have failed to report NATO's statement of regret or the possibility that the strike was caused by faulty targeting information. Yesterday, Ambassador Sasser, while holed up in one of the three American embassy compounds here, issued a statement expressing his "profound sorrow" about this "deplorable accident."
The Chinese press has yet to report it.
China's decision to portray the airstrike as a deliberate act of murder appears to be part of a domestic political strategy to whip up nationalist sentiment and give Chinese both an outlet and a target for their anger.
The NATO airstrike aside, Chinese have a lot to be mad about these days.
The government has laid off millions of workers from state-run businesses in an attempt to develop a more market-oriented economy. Public corruption and excessive taxation by greedy local officials have contributed to an increasingly cynical citizenry and sparked protests across the country.
Late last month, about 10,000 demonstrators from a quasi-religious sect surrounded the leadership compound here to demand freedom to practice what they believe.
Suggestions that faulty military intelligence might have been responsible for the attack are met with disbelief and suspicion.
"It's not an accident, it's a plan," said a 28-year-old engineer who gave only his surname of Ma. "Three missiles from different angles!" he added, quoting the state press.
When pressed for a reason why NATO would target the Chinese embassy, Ma said he believed the United States was angry with China for opposing its position as the world's only superpower.
While thousands focused their anger on the U.S. and British governments yesterday and some talked of killing Americans, quite a few Chinese committed small acts of kindness.
Concerned that the demonstrations might continue and grow worse, Westerners flooded the grocery section of the Friendship Store -- a Beijing landmark that caters to foreign shoppers. As an American tried to load heavy bags of food onto his bicycle outside, a Chinese student held the bike frame to keep it from falling over.
When police pulled one foreign reporter from the parade route, they pushed him into another crowd of demonstrators who began kicking him.
"Are you a journalist?" asked a Chinese reporter as she helped him out of harm's way. "We will protect you."
Wire services contributed to this article.