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| China to send in surveyors to disputed Senkaku islands | China to send in surveyors to disputed Senkaku islands |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| China will send a team to survey islands at the heart of an increasingly heated dispute with Japan, a Chinese official has said. | China will send a team to survey islands at the heart of an increasingly heated dispute with Japan, a Chinese official has said. |
| It is Beijing's clearest statement yet that it intends to set foot on the Japanese-controlled territory. | It is Beijing's clearest statement yet that it intends to set foot on the Japanese-controlled territory. |
| The remarks by the Chinese mapping agency vice-director, Li Pengde, added to the sharpening rhetoric between the two sides over a set of uninhabited islets known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese. | The remarks by the Chinese mapping agency vice-director, Li Pengde, added to the sharpening rhetoric between the two sides over a set of uninhabited islets known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese. |
| In an interview with the state broadcaster CCTV, Li said China planned to send a team on to the islands to study their layout at an "appropriate time". Surveying by land would allow the mapping of caves and other features not visible from the air, Li told the station. | In an interview with the state broadcaster CCTV, Li said China planned to send a team on to the islands to study their layout at an "appropriate time". Surveying by land would allow the mapping of caves and other features not visible from the air, Li told the station. |
| "My hope is that we can get under way under conditions where the situation is relatively good and the survey team's physical safety can be assured," Li said. | "My hope is that we can get under way under conditions where the situation is relatively good and the survey team's physical safety can be assured," Li said. |
| The islands are the focus of a decades-long dispute that reignited in September when the Japanese government purchased three of the islands from their private owners. The move had been intended to prevent the islands being bought by Tokyo's former nationalist mayor, who wanted to build a dock there for Japanese fishing boats and also backed sending experts to study their wildlife and terrain. | The islands are the focus of a decades-long dispute that reignited in September when the Japanese government purchased three of the islands from their private owners. The move had been intended to prevent the islands being bought by Tokyo's former nationalist mayor, who wanted to build a dock there for Japanese fishing boats and also backed sending experts to study their wildlife and terrain. |
| The purchase prompted anti-Japanese protests in China, and Beijing has regularly sent ships to confront the Japanese coastguard in the area since tensions spiked. | The purchase prompted anti-Japanese protests in China, and Beijing has regularly sent ships to confront the Japanese coastguard in the area since tensions spiked. |
| Japan's coastguard forbids anyone of any nationality from landing on the islands, including Japanese and Chinese nationalists seeking to plant flags there. | Japan's coastguard forbids anyone of any nationality from landing on the islands, including Japanese and Chinese nationalists seeking to plant flags there. |
| The chain is made up of five main islands with a total area of just over six sq km (2.3 sq miles), covered in rock, scrub brush and seabird habitat. They have been uninhabited since 1940, when a fish processing plant on the main island closed, and were under US administration from the end of the second world war until 1972, when they were returned to Japanese control. | The chain is made up of five main islands with a total area of just over six sq km (2.3 sq miles), covered in rock, scrub brush and seabird habitat. They have been uninhabited since 1940, when a fish processing plant on the main island closed, and were under US administration from the end of the second world war until 1972, when they were returned to Japanese control. |
| Although China's claim to the islands is based on its interpretation of historical records, it has sought to use cartography to support that by issuing maps last year that ascribed place names to even the smallest rocks and outcrops. | Although China's claim to the islands is based on its interpretation of historical records, it has sought to use cartography to support that by issuing maps last year that ascribed place names to even the smallest rocks and outcrops. |
| The islands lie amid rich fishing grounds and a potential wealth of natural gas and other undersea mineral resources. They are roughly midway between Taiwan – which also claims sovereignty over them – and the Japanese island of Okinawa. | The islands lie amid rich fishing grounds and a potential wealth of natural gas and other undersea mineral resources. They are roughly midway between Taiwan – which also claims sovereignty over them – and the Japanese island of Okinawa. |
| China and Japan have accused one another of tailing each other's aircraft in the area. Last month Japan said a Chinese ship had locked its weapons fire control radar on to one of its ships in a hostile act. China denied the claim and accused Tokyo of seeking to escalate tensions. | China and Japan have accused one another of tailing each other's aircraft in the area. Last month Japan said a Chinese ship had locked its weapons fire control radar on to one of its ships in a hostile act. China denied the claim and accused Tokyo of seeking to escalate tensions. |
| China said it would continue patrols indefinitely, in an apparent attempt to wear down the Japanese coastguard. | China said it would continue patrols indefinitely, in an apparent attempt to wear down the Japanese coastguard. |
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