Senkaku Islands Dispute

This has been in the news a lot recently. Original text is here, from the Daily Yomiuri online, accessed Sept. 28th, 2012.

“It belongs to China” – The Senkaku Problem is a full-page advertisement in Western newspapers

[Washington – Kentaro Nakajima] China’s English-language newspaper China Daily published a full-page advertisement on the 28^th in main newspapers such as the Washington Post and New York Times with the headline “Diaoyu Islands [the Chinese name for Senkaku] Belong to China.”

The advertisement said that the Senkaku Islands have been China’s territory since time immemorial, and that there has been no margin to contest the sovereignty China has been endowed with; the Chinese government expanded this assertion by saying, “‘Nationalization’ according to Japan infringes on China’s sovereignty, and negates the effects of the Second Sino-Japanese War [1937-1945—tr.].”

Ichiro Fujizaki, the Japanese ambassador to the United States, held a press conference on the 28^th concerning the publication of the advertisement. He stated, “Accepting one-sided arguments in American newspapers causes misunderstanding,” as well as clarifying his objections to the Washington Post. Each consulate-general protested the publication of the advertisement as well.”