China's Xi says Japan's purchase of disputed isles a farce

Blame it all on Ishihara.

Thomas, one right wing politician caused nothing. Red China is using it as an excuse. They always had their eyes on these islands and the entire continental shelf and beyond. If needed Red China would use the sins of our ancestors as the reason to make war.

No, obviously it was the purchasing of the Senkaku islands that sparked all of this.

You're right that he's only a single right wing politician. But if so, then why didn't the Japanese population stop him? Some people knew that this was going to happen, but those people were heavily criticized by the Japanese media, and they supported Ishihara instead.

This whole thing was the biggest foreign diplomacy blunder in recent history. And it was all because of Ishihara and his supporters.

Geee thanks Ishihara for potentially taking Japan to war, putting all its citizens at risk of being killed, stifling further growth in the region and sending the economy into further decline. Let's send Ishihara to the Sentaku islands and leave him there to defend them.

Xi is right, it is a farce. But not nearly as big a farce as China's unleashing hundreds of thousands of hysterical rioters over this tempest in a teapot.

@Virtuoso: It is not a small farce. China have to respond fiercely. Buying land is a severe issue. There is too much hints under the "buy". who can buy the land? Can you Japanese buy land from US ? If we don't fight back, other country will think China accept the 'fact' that Japan has the right to sell the island , which is equal to "Japan owns the island". This would be a very bad example. If China don't fight back , one day , if this issue is handed over to the international cout, China will lose. I cannot understand why your goverment have to "buy" the island to stop Ishihara. Is Ishihara Japnaese ? Your govement seems to lose control on him. But no matter who "buy" the island, the impact is very bad. And China has issues with other countries too, like Vitnan and Philipin ( sorry for my poor typing ) . They will make more trouble if China yield to Japan. We have no choince even if fighting back will lead to ecnomic downgrade or war.

This is NOT just a farce but a CONSPIRACY! The Ishihara clique was collaborated with the 'Heritage foundation' a US rightists think tank or a shadow government run by the republicans! That think tank understood that man Ishiahara Shintaro was a fascist,a Hanjiang massacre denialer! The Heritage foundation provided the platform for Ishihara's annoucement of 'buying the Diayoutai isles'! Why does a city government could buy an island that was disputed by two countries for decades and located more than 1000 kilometers out of Tokyo? Indeed it wasnt an ordinary land purchasing but an intention to kicks up a conflict! The DPJ was useless, they have no dignity, they let a city government 'override' the administrative coverage of a nation! Ishihara belongs no party and the Heritage foundation is attempt to drag the present democrats of Washington in a castasropic conflict!

correction: they have been found to be rich in gas in early 70's

I am sorry, but claiming islands that you never possessed and showed interest till early 70's when it was found that these islands are rich in gas is farce.

The hell with China. Enough is enough!

So between 1945 - 1971 china didn't remember about those islands? The farce is the claim that has arisen since then.

Tai-Cheng Lee

This may be a new concept for you but buying and selling property by individuals/entities to another individual/entities is a common practice on a democratic society. I know such concept is foreign to Chinese citizens who had their property taken away on a whim of their government.

The owner of the land (an indivdiual) wanted to sell the islands before the lease expires (March 2013) with the central government. At the beginning, the central government was NOT INTERESTED in buying them so the owner inquired the possibility to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (Ishihara). Although Ishihara from the beginning stated publicly that it should be the central government's responsibility to buy these islands, he decided to purchase the islands by raising funds through donation. Since the amount of donations received overwhelming support, the amount not only was on target to surpass the purchase amount, it was on its way to make more funds available to make additional improvements (temporary docks for fishermen, various other infrastructure,. etc.) This is when China started to make noise. Eventually, the central government (namely Noda Cabinet) stepped in and decided to prevent Tokyo from purchasing by negotiating with the owner. Finally, it was decided that the central government would buy the islands under the condition that it would not make any infrastrcucture improvements in hopes of mitigating China's opposition.

Bottom line. Under a democratic society with laws that protects it, an individual has the right to sell the land to anybody at any price.

Thomas it is the excuse and there is always another to use. If they get these islands next it will be the rest of the Ryukyu islands. Red China does not respect the rights and desires of local populations.

Many fear this could lead to a war. I say that if it turns out to be the only way to stop the Chinese government from bringing instability to the world so be it. Maybe the U.N. could even split China into smaller countries and be done with it. Can you imagine what a better world that would be? No more arrogant Chinese, no more rare earths bans, no more stealing of Intellectual Property, newly found freedom for the Chinese people, for the Tibetans, a united North and South Korea, more income equality for its people, no more death penalties, no more unrestrained pollution, etc. This China country it's like a tumor that really ought to be cut off.

Tai-Cheng Lee, actually I think the central government bought the islands in preparation to give them to China. (not sure which one). How can the government give away the property of its citizens? Now that China (both) has caused such troubles it is impossible to give away the islands. The DPJ needs to grow a spine, their spineless approach to ruling has caused so many problems. Most Japanese people do not care about the islands. Most Okinawa people are unconcerned as well. I would add that most Chinese people (both) do not care as well. Some sort of compromise can be worked out but this means compromise and not just Japan giving China (both) everything they are demanding.