Tokyo, April 7, SPA -- Honda Motor President Takeo Fukui told a Tokyo press conference Thursday that the Japanese automaker will reduce its number of business trips to China due to rising anti-Japan sentiment there. "We would like to keep a low profile in China and shy away from golf meetings among Japanese business officials alone," he said. Protesters in China have recently smashed the windows of Japanese businesses to register their opposition to Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. Tensions between China and Japan have been increasing, due partly to a joint U.S.-Japanese defense statement earlier this year naming Taiwan as a security concern. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province. The Japanese government's decision on Tuesday to approve a school history textbook written by a nationalistic group was another reason for the unease of many Chinese. The book was made by a nationalist group of academics known as the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform. When first approved in 2001, the textbook stirred outrage from China and South Korea, which saw its content as justifying and glorifying Japan's past military aggression. Honda's president, however, said that anti-Japan sentiment in China has been limited geographically and has not directly affected Honda's local business operations. Honda has three assembly plants in China and was the first Japanese automaker to build cars in China. --SPA 1153 Local Time 0853 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/252780