China, Japan and South Korea crank up squabbles

China said it would lodge a complaint with Japan after it detained Chinese activists who landed on a disputed island and raised a flag yesterday, as tension escalated on the anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

The landing by activists on an island chain in the East China Sea and their detention by Japan’s coastguard came after South Korea prompted an official protest from Japan when South Korean president Lee Myung-bak allegedly insulted Emperor Akihito.

Japan arrested five members of a group of activists from China, Hong Kong and Macau who landed on the island, Japan’s coastguard said. China’s Xinhua news agency said Japan’s coastguard later arrested nine activists on their boat.

Japan protested to China’s ambassador over the landing and prime minister Yoshihiko Noda said Tokyo would deal with the matter strictly in accordance with the law.

In response, China’s foreign ministry said it was “contacting the Japanese side to lodge representations over five Chinese nationals’ detention on the Diaoyu Islands”, referring to the isles known as Senkaku in Japan. It did not mention the nine detained on their boat.

A separate row over rival claims by South Korea and Japan to other rocky islands has also intensified. The friction in part reflects scepticism over the sincerity of Japan’s apologies for wartime excesses.

Yesterday, premier Lee told a group of teachers that Emperor Akihito should apologise sincerely if he wants to visit South Korea, saying a repeat of his 1990 expression of “deepest regrets” would not suffice.

Japan, noting no visit was planned, lodged a protest with Seoul over the remarks.