Japanese politicians land on disputed isles

Four Japanese local politicians on Tuesday landed on islands in the East China Sea at the centre of a bitter territorial dispute with Beijing, a news report said. The group from the Ishigaki municipal assembly in Okinawa in the south of Japan landed on the uninhabited islets, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, in the morning, Kyodo news agency said. A spokesman for Japan's coast guard said "someone" went to the isles, but declined to give details. An official announcement was expected later in the day, he added. The reported action comes shortly after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's visit to China on December 25-26, when he agreed with Beijing to set up a high-level meeting on maritime affairs in an effort to reduce tensions. A coast guard patrol ship confirmed that three members of the local assembly landed on one of the islands around 9:30 am (0030 GMT) while the fourth followed 20 minutes later, Kyodo said. The group left Ishigaki port on a fishing boat late Monday, Kyodo said, citing the coast guard. The tiny isles have been a source of tension between the Asian giants for decades. In September 2010, relations between Tokyo and Beijing turned icy after a collision between a Japanese coastguard vessel and a Chinese fishing boat off the isles administered by Tokyo. After Japan arrested the skipper, China reacted in fury and demanded his immediate release, tightening trade restrictions and cancelling diplomatic, political and cultural exchanges. Japan eventually released the fisherman, but the incident fueled anti-China sentiment among the Japanese public. Conservative Japanese politicians, both at local and national levels, have used the territorial dispute to take more hardline approaches with China, as Beijing expands its naval assertiveness.