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| Japanese activists land on disputed islands | Japanese activists land on disputed islands |
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| Japanese activists have swum ashore and raised flags on one of a group of islands at the centre of an escalating territorial dispute with China. The coast guard in southern Japan's Okinawa prefecture said nine or 10 activists had made an unauthorised landing on Uotsuri Island, part of the small archipelago known in Japan as Senkaku and in China as Diaoyu. The uninhabited islands surrounded by rich fishing grounds are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. | Japanese activists have swum ashore and raised flags on one of a group of islands at the centre of an escalating territorial dispute with China. The coast guard in southern Japan's Okinawa prefecture said nine or 10 activists had made an unauthorised landing on Uotsuri Island, part of the small archipelago known in Japan as Senkaku and in China as Diaoyu. The uninhabited islands surrounded by rich fishing grounds are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. |
| Plans for Sunday's visit drew a protest from China's foreign ministry. | Plans for Sunday's visit drew a protest from China's foreign ministry. |
| "Any unilateral action taken by Japan on the islands is illegal and invalid," it said in a statement issued Saturday. | "Any unilateral action taken by Japan on the islands is illegal and invalid," it said in a statement issued Saturday. |
| Days earlier, a group of 14 Hong Kong residents and mainland Chinese had travelled by boat to the islands, and some swam ashore. Japan arrested them on Wednesday for landing without authorisation, and sought to quiet the regional spat by quickly deporting the group Friday. Plans for further visits by activists on both sides appear likely to further inflame the territorial tensions. | Days earlier, a group of 14 Hong Kong residents and mainland Chinese had travelled by boat to the islands, and some swam ashore. Japan arrested them on Wednesday for landing without authorisation, and sought to quiet the regional spat by quickly deporting the group Friday. Plans for further visits by activists on both sides appear likely to further inflame the territorial tensions. |
| The coast guard did not identify by name those who landed on Uotsuri Island on Sunday. They were members of a group of ultra-conservative parliamentarians and local politicians who were visiting waters off the disputed islands over the weekend to mourn for the victims of a boat accident near there at the end of World War II. | The coast guard did not identify by name those who landed on Uotsuri Island on Sunday. They were members of a group of ultra-conservative parliamentarians and local politicians who were visiting waters off the disputed islands over the weekend to mourn for the victims of a boat accident near there at the end of World War II. |
| "Four days ago there was an illegal landing of Chinese people on the island as such we need to solidly reaffirm our own territory," said Koichi Mukoyama, a lawmaker who was among seven conservative parliamentarians aboard a boat in the flotilla of some 20 vessels that travelled to the islands. | "Four days ago there was an illegal landing of Chinese people on the island as such we need to solidly reaffirm our own territory," said Koichi Mukoyama, a lawmaker who was among seven conservative parliamentarians aboard a boat in the flotilla of some 20 vessels that travelled to the islands. |
| Photos from Japan's Kyodo News Agency showed several men and a woman, in street clothes still wet from swimming ashore, brandishing the Japanese flag atop rocks on the shore of the uninhabited island. | Photos from Japan's Kyodo News Agency showed several men and a woman, in street clothes still wet from swimming ashore, brandishing the Japanese flag atop rocks on the shore of the uninhabited island. |
| Last week's visit by the Chinese activists raised calls by critics of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government to take stronger action to protect the islands. | Last week's visit by the Chinese activists raised calls by critics of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government to take stronger action to protect the islands. |
| Protesters in Beijing, Hong Kong and other cities praised the activists as heroes and burned Japanese flags. | Protesters in Beijing, Hong Kong and other cities praised the activists as heroes and burned Japanese flags. |
| Japan says it has controlled the five main islands for more than 100 years. It has been trying to place four that are privately held under state ownership to bolster its territorial claim. | Japan says it has controlled the five main islands for more than 100 years. It has been trying to place four that are privately held under state ownership to bolster its territorial claim. |
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