An official Chinese Communist Party newspaper urged China's citizens to express patriotism in a rational way as anti-Western protests spread.
"As citizens, we have the responsibility to express our patriotic enthusiasm calmly and rationally and express patriotic aspiration in an orderly and legal manner," the front-page editorial in the People's Daily said Sunday.
The commentary is in response to protests that began Saturday and continued Sunday aimed at the French retailer Carrefour, the second-largest "hypermarket" chain in the world.
Protesters accuse Carrefour of supporting the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet and the head of its government-in-exile.
In Xi'an, more than 1,000 people gathered in front of a Carrefour store. They chanted "Oppose Tibet Independence," "Go China," and "Condemn CNN," reported Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.
A demonstration organizer, identified as Wu Sheng, said the protests aren't meant to encourage a boycott of Carrefour.
"We do not support a boycott of French companies because the economy is globalizing. We choose Carrefour front doors only because we draw more attention there," Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Demonstrations were also staged in Harbin, in the country's north, and the eastern city of Jinan. The demonstrations remained peaceful.
Saturday's protests occurred in Wuhan, Kunming and Qingdao. Protesters also appeared outside the French embassy in Beijing and the Beijing French School.
In Xi'an, protesters carried photographs of Jin Jing, a previously obscure disabled fencer who became an icon after she was photographed in Paris on April 7 protecting the Olympic torch from a Tibet protester.
In previous statements, Carrefour has said it has always supported the Beijing Games.
Carrefour denies the charge of supporting the Dalai Lama, saying it supports no political or religious cause.
Jose Luis Duran, the company's chief executive, said he is taking the situation seriously.
"We cannot take the reaction of some of our clients lightly," he said. "It must be understood that a large part of the Chinese population has been very shocked by the incidents that have peppered the passage of the Olympic torch through Paris."
Carrefour has 122 stores in China that employ more than 40,000 people and serve more than two million customers.
CNN protest
Besides Carrefour, CNN is also in the bad books of many Chinese for perceived biased reporting and commentary on the Tibet issue. There are reports of foreign journalists being threatened by telephone call and e-mail.
In Los Angeles, as many as 5,000 Chinese-Americans demonstrated outside of CNN's Hollywood office Saturday. They were upset about recent comments by Jack Cafferty, a commentator on the news network. Earlier this month, he called Chinese goods "junk" and went on to describe China's leaders as a "bunch of goons and thugs."
"We understand free speech," Lake Wang, a protester, told the Los Angeles Times. "But what if Cafferty said this about other racial groups? I think he would be fired. I think he's jealous of China."
A smaller protest was also held outside of CNN's headquarters in Atlanta.
With files from The Associated Press
