JAPANESES ACTIVISTS LAND ON DISPUTED ISLANDS AMID CHINA ROW
Japan's coast guard is now questioning the activists, who had earlier been denied permission to visit the islands
At least 10 Japanese nationalist activists have landed on a group of disputed islands, amid an escalating territorial row with China.
The activists swam ashore after a flotilla carrying about 150 people reached the Japanesecontrolled Senkaku islands, called Diaoyu in China.
Japan's coast guard is now questioning the activists, who had earlier been denied permission to visit the islands.
The move triggered protests in China and strong condemnation from Beijing.
More than 100 people gathered near the Japanese consu- late in China's southern city of Guanghzou, demanding the Japanese to leave the islands, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
Anti-Japanese rallies were also held in Shenzhen, Qingdao and Harbin, the agency reported.
The islands in the East China Sea lie on a vital shipping lane, and are surrounded by deposits of gas.
They are also claimed by Taiwan. 'Grave crisis' The Japanese launched their flotilla on Saturday, saying they wanted to commemorate the Japanese who died near the islands in World War II.
They raised the Japanese flag when they landed on the rocks, emulating the pro-China acti- vists who had made the same gesture during their trip.
A journalist from the French AFP news agency, who was aboard one of the boats, said the flotilla had arrived off the main island, Uotsuri, at sunrise.
One of the politicians on the flotilla, Kenichi Kojima, told AFP: "I want to show the international community that these islands are ours. It is Japan's future at stake."
China has warned that the expedition would undermine its territorial sovereignty.
"Any unilateral action taken by Japan on the Diaoyu Islands is illegal and invalid," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gan. (BBC)