Japan-China clash on disputed islands

Skyrocketing tension between China and Japan around the archipelago disputed Senkaku (Diaoyu to the Chinese) in the South China Sea, while Beijing blows on anti-Japanese sentiments of the population, encouraging - rather than suppress as usual - protests in different cities. The last episode, in order of time, the tug of war that pits the two countries around seven uninhabited islands, but rich in fish and possible gas reserves, was the landing this morning a dozen activists Japanese island of Uotsuri, the largest of the archipelago, intending to climb on top and plant the flag of Japan to reaffirm its sovereignty. The group arrived at Senkaku with about twenty other boats carrying 140 people, including militants nationalists and Japanese politicians, challenged the police ban that Japan wanted to avoid further escalation in relations with China. That fact did not miss his immediate "strong protest". The Japanese ambassador in Beijing was immediately summoned to the Foreign Ministry and urged to "put an end to this action that threatens the national sovereignty of China," the Government said in a statement. Only last Wednesday had been 14 instead of Chinese activists to land on the same island to claim sovereignty over the archipelago in Beijing, administered by Japan but that China (and Taiwan) does not intend to give up control. Japanese police they had been arrested, and then release them and expel them in a matter of hours. Seven of them were welcomed yesterday at Hong Kong airport as heroes. Even today, anti-Japanese demonstrations were organized in at least eight cities in China. About a thousand people gathered in Shenzhen (in the south), waving Chinese flags and chanting slogans, as reported by the agency New China. In Guangzhou (south), more than 100 people are meeting near the Japanese consulate, shouting "Japan, get out of the Diaoyu Islands." Witnesses speak of similar events in Shanghai and Chengdu (southwest), where demonstrators have forced the Japanese stores to close. According to Japanese media, also in Shenzhen and Hangzhou (East), were damaged signs and folded Japanese vehicles. The events in China are usually dispersed quickly but - say analysts - this time the Chinese authorities appear to have a vested interest in fomentarle. "They use the paper popular support to put pressure on Japan," he told AFP Willy Lam, a sinologist at the University of Hong Kong. "The leadership of the Communist Party realized that nationalism is a double edged sword," he added, but "if they see that the protest is likely to intensify, then they will give the signal to stop it."