Japan vows to use force if Chinese land on islands

[Bosonic]

Source: AFP

TOKYO — Japan's prime minister vowed Tuesday to "expel by force" any Chinese landing on islands at the centre of a territorial row, after eight Chinese government vessels sailed into the disputed waters.

The latest clash over the islands came as nearly 170 Japanese lawmakers visited the controversial Yasukuni war shrine in central Tokyo, seen as a potent symbol of Japan's imperialist past, riling its neighbours China and South Korea.

Tokyo summoned the Chinese ambassador to Japan after the state-owned Chinese ships entered its territorial waters while Beijing called the shrine visit an "attempt to deny Japan's history of aggression".

The flotilla is the biggest to sail into the disputed waters in a single day since Tokyo nationalised part of the archipelago in September.

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[Berlum]

1. Those islands need to be declared a World Peace & Environmental Sanctuary

For crying out loud...

[Bosonic]

2. Japan Nationalists Near Disputed Isles

EAST CHINA SEA (Reuters) - Japanese nationalists sailed a flotilla of boats on Tuesday in waters near islands at the centre of a row between China and Japan, putting further strain on Tokyo's tense ties with Beijing as a group of more than 160 Japanese lawmakers visited a shrine seen by critics a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Last year members of the same right-wing group landed on one of the disputed islets and triggered anti-Japanese protests in China, where lingering bitterness over Japan's wartime aggression has been rekindled in recent days.

China blasted Tokyo for a lack of contrition over its past on Monday after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made an offering and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and two other ministers visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal along with Japan's war dead.

South Korea's foreign minister canceled a trip to Japan. Homage paid by leading Japanese politicians at the Tokyo shrine typically angers Japan's neighbors, who contend that it glorifies wartime atrocities.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/04/22/world/asia/22reuters-japan-china.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&