Senkaku Islands

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Obama in Japan: Diplomacy, Sushi, Soccer With a Robot

Obama pledges to defend Japan in dispute over 'rock'

(Newser) - President Obama guaranteed that the US would protect Japan if its dispute with China over the Senkaku Islands comes to blows, a serious moment in a conspicuously fun Tokyo trip. Obama said the islands have historically been administered by Japan, and that a US treaty "covers all territories administered...

Biden Stirs Pot in Beijing as Tensions Simmer

He begins China visit amid soaring regional tensions

(Newser) - Joe Biden has landed in Beijing for what was meant to be a trade mission but has become a high-stakes bid to calm soaring regional tensions over China's new air-defense zone over disputed islands in the East China Sea.
  • The vice president has been attacked in state media for
...

Japan, S. Korea: We Defied China's New Zone, Too

Both countries say they flew into it unannounced

(Newser) - The US may not be the only country to have dipped a toe in China's newly declared air defense zone: Japan and South Korea now say they've both flown planes through it, unannounced, as well. A rep for the Japan government describes its activity as routine "surveillance"...

2 US Bombers Defy China's New Defense Zone

Flights over disputed islands go unchallenged

(Newser) - China's newly declared air-defense zone over disputed islands in the East China Sea is apparently a defense zone in name only. Just days after Beijing announced the controversial move , two B-52 bombers from the US put it to the test by flying over the islands unannounced in defiance of...

China Sets Up Defense Zone Over Disputed Islands

Japan objects, says Beijing is raising dangerous tensions

(Newser) - The Chinese Defense Ministry today issued a map of a newly identified air-defense zone in the East China Sea that includes a chain of disputed islands also claimed by Japan. The move triggered an immediate protest from Tokyo. Beijing also issued a set of rules for the zone, saying all...

Japan Debuts Biggest Warship Since WWII Era

Izumo weighs in at 19.5K tons

(Newser) - Japan has unveiled its largest warship since World War II—and China sees the move as the naval equivalent of Japan thumping its chest. The $1.23 billion Izumo is a 19,500-ton vessel equipped with what Time calls "a conspicuously large flight deck" capable of carrying 14 helicopters;...

Okinawa Dragged Into China-Japan Island Battle

Newspaper calls for 'reconsideration' of Ryukyu islands' ownership

(Newser) - China and Japan are already locked in a territorial dispute over one group of Japanese-controlled islands—the Senkakus—and now the Middle Kingdom appears to be eying another. An editorial published today in the People's Daily newspaper, widely considered a Chinese government mouthpiece, calls for a "reconsideration" of...

China, Japan Trade Barbs in Island Fight

China denies using radar-lock on Japanese destroyer

(Newser) - China is denying that one of its naval vessels put a radar lock on a Japanese warship in waters close to the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had claimed on Wednesday that a Chinese frigate used its radar to gather information on the Japanese destroyer last week—...

Japan: China Violated Our Airspace

Chinese plane approached disputed islands

(Newser) - Japan says a Chinese government plane violated its airspace by soaring too close to the disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Japan scrambled eight fighter jets and complained to Beijing in response, a Japanese spokesman says. It's the first time a Chinese government aircraft...

Japan, Taiwan Blast Water Cannons in Islands Feud

China launches aircraft carrier as countries hold talks

(Newser) - With tensions rising in a territorial dispute, Taiwan has sent dozens of boats to the islands in question, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. In the first Taiwanese foray into the area, the boats exchanged fire with Japanese water cannons, the AP reports. Japan, which recently bought...

Chinese, Japanese Ships Square Off Near Islands

Standoff ends after Japan summons Chinese ambassador in protest

(Newser) - Six Chinese surveillance ships cruised into Japanese waters today—or at least, what Japan believes are Japanese waters—prompting a tense exchange with the Japanese patrol ships there, which radioed the Chinese to demand they leave. The Chinese ships refused. The standoff ended around mid-afternoon, the Washington Post reports, after...

China Sends Ships to Disputed Islands Japan Claims

Vessels mean to 'assert sovereignty'

(Newser) - Japan has confirmed a deal to buy disputed islands in the East China Sea—but China has sent a pair of patrol ships to "assert (its own) sovereignty" over the land, in the words of state news. "The Chinese government will not sit idly by watching its territorial...

Japan's Solution to Islands Dispute: Buy Them

Shocker: China not thrilled

(Newser) - Japan has apparently figured out a way to end its territorial dispute with China over some uninhabited islands in the East China Sea: buy them out from under China's nose. Though the Japanese government has not publicly confirmed the deal, the country's media today reports via unnamed sources...

China, Japan Trade Stunts Over Disputed Islands

With big gas fields under islets, neither country backing down

(Newser) - Chinese and Japanese activists are causing headaches in both countries over some islands in the East China Sea controlled by Japan, but claimed by both countries, reports the BBC . Called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China (and in Taiwan, which also claims them), the uninhabited islands made the news...

14 Stories