Tokyo's ad of ill intentions

To continue with its game of "purchasing" China's Diaoyu Islands, Japan seems increasingly dependent on the United States' support. This month has thrown up enough evidence to that effect, which will only make it more difficult to resolve the Diaoyu Islands dispute through talks.

To further Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara's plan to "purchase" the islands, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government ran a sizable advertisement in The Wall Street Journal on Friday. The ad lobbied for US support and claimed the islands to be "historically Japanese territory".

Such claims do not hold water. The Diaoyu Islands were discovered, explored and named by the Chinese at least during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). In contrast, Japan can trace historical proof of its "ownership" of the islands to only 1895. In retrospect, Japan's proof is nothing but evidence of its invasion of China. It seized the Diaoyu Islands, along with Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in the 1894-95 war between the two countries.