Japan-China dispute: little islands, big problem
Or AKA Big problem in Little China.
"The governor of Tokyo wants to buy them, Taiwan says it would like them back and China has made their return a national priority. But for the Kurihara family, the islands Japan knows as Senkaku are just a bit of land they would really rather sell.
"The conflict is escalating more and more," Hiroyuki Kurihara told AFP in an interview about the islands, known in China as Diaoyu, where Japanese nationalists landed Sunday after a similar venture by pro-Beijing activists.
All 14 involved in that action were deported Friday in an apparent bid by Tokyo to head off a potentially destabilising row with Beijing.
"We are worried that the government cannot cope with the situation over the islands," said Kurihara.
His powerful merchant family are the legal owners of four of the five islands in the Senkakus, an archipelago some 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) from Tokyo but less than 200 kilometres from Taiwan."
"China, Taiwan and Japan all say they are part of their territory.They are administered by Tokyo, which holds title to the fifth island and bans development on them all, not allowing anyone to land."
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia...ds-big-problem
