Yul Kwon:
The arrest of a Chinese fishing boat near the islands in late 2010 by the Japanese Coast Guard brought relations between Tokyo and Beijing to a new low, even causing China to impose economic sanctions against Japan. So it's not surprising that Japan’s effort to buy the islands is eliciting an angry response from China. Here’s CCTV’s report.

Reporter:
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda made his remark Saturday that Japan would consider nationalizing the Diaoyu Islands. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin reiterated China’s indisputable sovereignty over the territory, which should not be sold.

Liu Weimin, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman:
“China's holy territory is not up for sale to anyone. The Chinese government will continue to take measures needed to safeguard the sovereign rights of the Diaoyu Islands and adjacent islets.”

Reporter:
Noda's cabinet decision was to some extent promoted by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, who had earlier initiated a campaign to buy the islands. Ishihara suggested the idea of buying the islands from Japanese private owners when he visited Washington this April. He also encouraged Japanese people to donate money to support his plan. Ishihara said he planned to purchase the islands on behalf of his prefecture government and criticized the Noda cabinet’s weakness on the issue. Many see Noda's remarks as an attempt to shift attention from the government's other political problems and to regain public support.

Meng Xiangxing, National Defense University:
“Japan is haunted by anxieties from both the world economic crisis and the nuclear crisis triggered by the earthquake last year. Now a new nationalism is rising, which has an urgent need to expand oceanic resources.”

Reporter:
Some Japanese right-wing political group members have tried to exploit the proposal by holding a fishing contest near the islands as a demonstration of the country’s so-called sovereignty. That led to the Japanese House of Representatives launching a hearing into funding the purchase. At the end of June, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda asked to strengthen security over the Diaoyu Islands during his visit to Okinawa Coast Guards.

On July 5th, two Japanese right-wing activists landed on the northern islet of Diaoyu Islands and left. The following day, Japanese Prime Minister Noda announced his nationalization idea.

Yul Kwon:
As we mentioned before, Taiwan also disputes Japan's claim over Senkaku. In fact, a Taiwanese man recently tried, unsuccessfully, to plant China's flag on the islands. The event, which was all caught on tape, got him in trouble when he returned to Taiwan. People demanded to know why he was waving the Chinese flag and not the Taiwanese one. His response? He forgot to bring it.