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There is an increasingly shrill battle for the islands, named Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by Japan, with nationalists on both sides trying to plant territorial flags and stir up public
anger. China warned on Wednesday that it would take all "necessary measures" to thwart a Japanese plan to buy a disputed chain of islands. There is an increasingly shrill battle
for the islands, named Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by Japan, with nationalists on both sides trying to plant territorial flags and stir up public anger. The stakes were escalated by Shintaro
Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, who suggested that his country's government buy three of the islands from the Kurihura family, who claim the Japanese deeds. Japan should stand up to
China, he intoned, or face becoming a "second Tibet". As Japanese newspapers yesterday reported the purchase plan was close to fruition, with a 2.05 billion yen (pounds 16.4
million) price agreed, the Chinese government voiced its rage. "In disregard of China's solemn representations and firm opposition, Japan single-mindedly pushes forward the island
purchase process which severely harmed China's territorial sovereignty and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people," said a spokesperson for the foreign ministry. "The Chinese
government is monitoring developments closely and will take necessary measures to defend its national territorial sovereignty," he added. At a meeting with Hillary Clinton in Beijing,
China's foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, asserted the country's "plentiful historical and jurisprudential evidence" for its claims to virtually all of the South China Sea.
Several countries have overlapping 200-mile exclusive economic zones in the South China Sea, and tension has been rising all year as the Chinese navy becomes more assertive about policing
what it sees as its territory. The US secretary of state has urged China to agree a "code of conduct" for all the countries whose coasts border the sea, a move that Yang appeared
to approve.