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Japanese legislator lands on disputed islands
May 6, 1997
Web posted at: 11:40 a.m. EDT (1540 GMT)TOKYO (CNN) -- A Japanese nationalist legislator landed on one of a group of disputed islands, setting off a chain of harsh words from China and Taiwan and a rebuke from the Japanese government.
Shingo Nishimura, of Japan's main opposition New Frontier Party, said in a faxed statement it was his duty to inspect Japanese property.
"After landing on Senkaku today, I was convinced the revival of a proud Japan and an awakening in people's consciousness definitely begin here," he said.
The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are the center of a decades-long controversy between China, Taiwan and Japan, each claiming ownership of the rocky, uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.
The dispute resurfaced last summer when right-wing Japanese built a lighthouse on the islands, and protests erupted in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
China labeled Nishimura's trip "an illegal landing" and a "serious violation of China's territory sovereignty."
"The Diaoyu matter will definitely affect the normal development of Sino-Japanese relations," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang. "We hope the Japanese side will take effective measure to remove the adverse results and negative effects."
Shen's counterpart in Taiwan, Roy Wu, said much the same thing, urging Japan to "exercise self-restraint and not to create any trouble that will affect our friendly relations."
In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto was among the first to criticize Nishimura.
"It is well-known that the owner of the land has refused to allow landings there," Hashimoto said. "Do members of parliament have the right to completely ignore that?
told reporters that the landing was "extremely regrettable," while said the Japanese government would "calmly deal with the issue."
Nishimura's statement, however, said he was within his rights to land on the islands.
"The Senkaku Islands are indisputably Japan's territory," the statement said. "It is a matter of course that a member of parliament should survey Japanese territory."
Nishimura was accompanied by Okinawa politician Hitoshi Nakama, who visited the island last month prompting concerns of a provocation to China, and two others.
Japan took the islands, which belonged to China for centuries, in 1895 after defeating imperial China, and refuses to discuss the issue. China says the islands -- which lie amid rich fishing grounds and possible oil and natural gas deposits -- should have been returned after World War II.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related story:
- China removes ships from disputed island - May 3, 1997
Related site:
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- Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands Dispute: The U.S. Legal Relationship and Obligations
- from The Center for Strategic and International Studies
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