Territory Dispute - China

As you all may well know by this point, Japan has been involved with some territorial disputes over the past century. Although these are nothing new to the region, the situation has escalated recently. It all boils down to Japan's imperial times when it wanted to claim land to expand its national resources. Japan is in the precarious position where the only resource it has is fish, and even that is iffy with the recent overfishing and the 3.11 disaster.

Two different situations are escalating at the moment. The first is the issue with China. Japan claims the chain of eight islands as part of its territory. Located in what the Japanese call the Japan Sea, the islands are called the Senkaku Islands. They were found to be uninhabited and subsequently added to Okinawa prefecture in Southern Japan. In the 1970's, Japan announced that the Senkaku Islands were a prime fishing location and that they might have significant oil/gas deposits. China calls the islands the Diaoyu Islands, and insists that they have been used for centuries for fishing.

In September 2010, a Chinese fisherman tried to land on the island. He crashed into two Japanese coast guard vessels and was soon arrested. China cancelled a planned trip by 1,000 Japanese students to China in anger. Japan eventually released the fisherman and his crew, but insisted they not try to land on the islands again.

On August 15, 2012, the situation has escalated further. 14 people from Hong Kong sailed to one of the Senkaku islands and tried to land on it. 7 people managed to get to land. The Japanese Coast Guard released their video of the event. It shows a Coast Guard vessel firing water cannons and Hong Kong activists throwing bricks.

Chinese media has been very critical of the event and has asserted that the Japanese law is "worthless" and not meant to be followed since the lands are claimed by China. There are talks of boycotting Japanese products in China, though whether this will be successful, no one knows. Chinese activists have reportedly burned cars in protest. Another man stole the Hinomaru flag off of the Japanese ambassador's car after two vehicles boxed him in. The Chinese government has denounced the way which the Coast Guard handled the issue. It is also trying to reign in its own citizens before they further complicate the issue.

In contrast, Japanese activists have traveled to the islands to raise the Hinomaru flag on the island to reassert Japanese sovereignty over the land. Activists are stationed on top of a large van in Shibuya, shouting nationalist slogans that the islands belong to Japan and that people should stand up for the territory.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has tried to do a survey of the Senkaku Islands, but this proposal was rejected. Instead, the government has offered to buy three of the islands for 2 billion yen from the Kurihara family, who owns the property.

Sources:
"China-Japan Islands Row" (BBC)
"Ishihara's Senkaku survey Request gets thumbs down" (Japan Times)
"Japan Coast Guard releases footage of Senkaku clash with Chinese activists" (Japan Times)
"Chinese media hail activists" (Yomiuri Shinbun)