Editor's Note

Chinese activists from Hong Kong landed on the Diaoyu Islands on Wednesday, according to Japan Coast Guard.

Experts Monday called on Japan to show restraint over an activist group's recent assertion of China's sovereignty over the islands, one day after a Hong Kong activist group set sail for the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

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Chinese activists land on Diaoyu Islands: Japan Coast Guard

Activists from Hong Kong landed on the Diaoyu Islands on Wednesday, according to Japan Coast Guard.

Japan urged to ensure safety of Diaoyu activists

Reports said the Japanese lawmakers were scheduled to hold a vigil for the victims of a refugee shipwreck during wartime on the islands. However, the Japanese government has turned down the plan for fear of causing an "unexpected incident" between China and Japan, and having a negative impact on the Japanese government's plan to "nationalize" the Diaoyu Islands, according to Kyodo News.

Be wary of Japan’s radical acts on Diaoyu

A ship from Hong Kong sailed into the open sea on Augutst 13 and plans to head toward the Diaoyu Islands with an activists' ship from Taiwan. The Japanese side previously claimed that they might send Self-Defense Forces to block activists from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong from landing on the islands. Though the Japanese embassy has denied the claim, the situation surrounding the Diaoyu Islands looks grim.

Related reports:
Japan recalls Chinese ambassador over Diaoyu tensions
Diaoyu Islands can't be 'bought': FM spokesman
Taiwan backs Diaoyu activists as mainland urges Japanese restraint

Activists' Voyage

File Photo: Pictured is the ship where 15 Chinese activists were on board to the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. Photo: china. cnr.cn	Scheduled boarding time: August 15, the memorial day of victory over Japan during World War II
	People: A total of 15 activists on board, including four crew members and 11 activists from Hong Kong, Macao and the Chinese mainland
	Ship: The ship belongs to the Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands.
	Task: to reach the Diaoyu Islands and assert China’s sovereignty over the islands.
	Route: start Sunday noon from Hong Kong and to meet with the vessels of their Taiwanese counterparts in the Taiwan Straits Tuesday and reach the Diaoyu Islands together on August 15
Cause: a response to some 50 Japanese lawmakers' plan to set foot on the Diaoyu Islands on August 19	Difficulties: might be blocked by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces from landing on the islands.

Source: Global Times

Stances

Media Comments

	Be wary of Japan’s radical acts on Diaoyu China needs to use different channels to warn Japan to restrain itself. Grass-roots activists from China are not new elements in the disputes. Japan's reaction cannot break the practices of the past. They have to ensure the safety of Chinese activists. Unexpected mishaps due to Japan's blocking will lead to retaliations from both the Chinese government and the public. Anti-Japanese sentiment is also running high in Russia and South Korea. Japan has become isolated in the East Asia territorial disputes. The Chinese mainland also has support from Taiwan and Hong Kong. Japan will not gain any advantage if the conflict intensifies.
	Activists heading to Diaoyu Islands Sunday Activists and government officials Monday vowed to protect the right of Taiwanese fishing boats to operate around the disputed Diaoyu Islands and to defend the country’s sovereignty over the region.
	Japan shows short-sighted rashness in island disputes Japan appears to be mired in bitter domestic conflict which has played back upon its foreign policy in a fresh attempt to "nationalize" Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea that actually belong to China.
	Nearly seven decades later, Northeast Asia still haunted by war Managing the feud with China over the Diaoyu islands near potentially huge oil and gas reserves could be tougher at a time when China -- where memories of Japan's military occupation run deep -- faces a once-in-a-decade leadership change and Japan worries about its rival's rising regional and global clout.

Incident Review

Time	China	Japan
April 16		Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara said that the metropolitan government plans to buy the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, over which both China and Japan claim sovereignty, a move that risks elevating tensions between the two countries.
April 17	China reiterated that the Diaoyu Islands and other affiliated isles have been an inherent part of Chinese territory since ancient times, and China holds indisputable sovereignty over them.
April 27		Ishihara announced that the metropolitan government had set up an account for people to send money to help it purchase the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, the Japan Times reported.
May 2	China's fishery administration authorities confirmed that two of its vessels have sailed into waters near the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
May 8	The Chinese foreign ministry said that it held the same stance toward unilateral action from Japan in its bid to violate China's lawful ownership of these islands.	The Tokyo metropolitan government went further in its plan to purchase three of the Diaoyu Islands, announcing that total donations had reached over 200 million yen ($2.5 million) by May 7.
May 16	China and Japan held a high-level consultation on maritime affairs with the Diaoyu Islands taking center stage.
May 18		World Uyghur Congress head Rebiya Kadeer made a donation of 100,000 yen ($125) on Friday to Takeo Hiranuma, a member of parliament and the party representative of the Sunrise Party of Japan, after the meeting of the WUC assembly, and declared that she would help the Tokyo metropolitan government "buy" the Diaoyu Islands.
May 22	The Chinese government voiced strong protest against the meeting.	Members of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) reportedly held a meeting to discuss the purchase of the Diaoyu Islands, after councilors were split over the proposal by Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara.
June 7		A senior Japanese cabinet official said that the Japanese government was studying the proposal by a right-wing politician to purchase the Diaoyu Islands and that objections to the plan by the Japanese envoy to China was "not in line with the government's stance," according to the Kyodo News.
June 18	Experts say Taiwan-based Foxconn CEO Terry Gou's suggestion that he would buy the Diaoyu Islands and cooperate with Japan to develop them is impracticable and meaningless.
June 26	China again requested Japan to stop causing new disturbances over the Diaoyu Islands and safeguard the overall interests of bilateral ties.
July 7	China will not allow its territory to be "purchased" by anyone, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said, after Japan said that it was looking to buy disputed islands from a Japanese citizen.	Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda admitted his government was negotiating with a "private owner" to "nationalize" part of the "Senkaku Islands" (China's Diaoyu Islands) by the end of the year.
July 11	Three Chinese fishery patrol ships arrived at areas near the Diaoyu Islands around 2 am on July 11 during a routine check, according to fishery authorities.
July 15		Japan's ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa returns to Tokyo on July 15 to discuss how Japan should respond to recent developments concerning the disputed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. Japan recalls Chinese ambassador over Diaoyu tensions.
July 18	A Chinese lawyer named Hao Junbo has filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government on July 18 for violating Chinese sovereignty in its recent attempt to "purchase" the Diaoyu Islands, seeking an apology and confiscation of the money raised by Japanese politicians.
July 23	Hao Junbo, a lawyer at Lehman, Lee and Xu, headquartered in Beijing has added Tokyo government, its governor and Kunioki Kurihara, a Japanese businessman who claimed ownership of three of the Diaoyu Islands, to his list of defendants.
July 26		Japanese Prime minister Yoshihiko Noda said Japan is ready to send in the military if necessary to protect the Diaoyu Islands, known as Senkaku in Japan.
July 27	Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei expressed China’s "grave concern" and "strong displeasure" over what he described as the "highly irresponsible remarks" made by Prime Minister Noda.
August 3		Some 50 Japanese lawmakers plan to set foot on the Diaoyu Islands on August 19 to hold a vigil for the victims of a refugee shipwreck during wartime on the islands.
August 12	A Hong Kong activist group set sail for the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea to assert China’s sovereignty over the islands Sunday.

Source: Global Times-Xinhua