According to the Japanese media, the Japanese government has reached an agreement with the family who claim to own the Diaoyu Islands to buy the islands. It will pay 2.05 billion yen ($26.15 million) for the purchase. The Chinese side should take measures to resist Japan's acts.

The crisis surrounding the Diaoyu Islands, originated from the Tokyo government's plan to purchase the islands, has been going on for some time. The Japanese government claims that Tokyo's purchase will prevent future landings on the islands by other Japanese, and keep the situation under control. This means nothing to China.

From a legal perspective, the purchase of the islands by the Japanese government can only be worse than by the Tokyo government. It is a more serious violation of China's sovereignty. China should ignore the ploy of Japan and fight back against the act. It is impossible that the Diaoyu Islands issue will be solved in a short time. The current deadlock was ignited by the Japanese side. It's natural that China has to resist. China will act accordingly. If Japan keeps on provoking, the conflict will evolve further.

If tensions between the two sides continue to rise, they may finally turn the issue into a military conflict. Neither wants to solve the issue through military means. Avoiding this is both sides' goal. China must make Japan realize that any of its provocations in the future will undoubtedly meet with countermeasures by China. If Japan would rather risk military conflicts over the Diaoyu dispute, it should never expect China to step back.

As the Japanese government seeks to "purchase" the Diaoyu Islands, China has many ways to fight back. It can make new legal and administrative arrangements for the Diaoyu Islands, just as it has established Sansha city and the Sansha military garrison in the South China Sea. It could introduce more law enforcement patrols in waters near the islands, and give more government support to grass-roots activities aimed at asserting China's sovereignty claim.

China does not have a choice. Japan's provocations have challenged China's bottom line. If China does not fight back accordingly, it will become passive in the dispute and domestic cohesion will suffer too.

It has been a long time since China was engaged in limited conflicts with other countries. It's not the end of the world if China becomes involved in a limited conflict with Japan over the Diaoyu dispute. This may bring trouble and costs to China, but Japan would at least suffer from equal losses. But maybe only through such suffering will Japan and a few similar provocateurs think twice before taking action.

The article is an editorial published in the Chinese edition of the Global Times Friday. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn