In the midst of a complicated and ongoing political dispute involving China and a host of other countries over a number of islands in the South China Sea, various papers in China today carried front page stories on 14 Chinese ‘Diaoyu Island protectors’ from Hong Kong (8 ‘protectors’ and 4 crew members) that landed on a rocky outpost of a disputed island (known in China as the Diaoyu Islands) to assert Chinese sovereignty, before they were apprehended and taken in for questioning by Japanese authorities.
The Dongguan Times (东莞日报) published a large image of the 14 Chinese activists making landfall on the island, with the headline “Hong Kong Diaoyu Island protectors set foot on Diaoyu Island; Yesterday marks 67 years since victory in the war of resistance (against Japan).” Beneath the image, the headline reads “Japanese capture 14 Diaoyu island protectors; Chinese foreign ministry calls for their immediate release.”
The Dongguan Times describes how, when the ship carrying the ‘Diaoyu Island protectors’ arrived close to the islands, it was intercepted by ships from the Japanese coast guard, which rammed the ship, called the Qifeng 2, damaging its bow and navigation equipment. Yet the Qifeng 2 persevered, and 7 ‘protectors’ managed to set foot on the rocky island. 5 members were soon captured by the Japanese coast guard, however, while 2 other members made it back to their ship. Before being apprehended on the island, the ‘protectors’ sang the Chinese anthem, and tried to plant the Chinese flag, but were prevented from doing so by the Japanese. The ‘protectors’ had originally planned to set foot on the island, to sing the Chinese anthem and plant the flag, and then to use a Chinese-made television set and radio to receive Chinese broadcasts, before ultimately proceeding to destroy the Japanese-built lighthouse.
The incident on the Diaoyu Islands appeared on various front pages today; the examples below illustrate a few.
Chongqing Shangbao 16 Aug 2012
Chongqing Times 16 Aug 2012
Qingnian Bao 16 Aug 2012
Shijie Bao 16 Aug 2012
Wuhan Wanbao 16 Aug 2012
Xiandai Kuaibao 16 Aug 2012
Guangzhou Ribao 16 Aug 2012
In a post published today, China Media Project has highlighted a very interesting additional aspect to the way this story is being portrayed in the Chinese media. The post shows the same picture that was used by many Chinese newspapers of the Chinese flag being carried on the island, but an uncropped version which reveals another man carrying aloft the flag of the Republic of China, i.e. Taiwan. The Global Times has actually printed the full uncropped version of the picture, as the post illustrates, but many other papers used a cropped picture or obstructed the Taiwanese flag with large headline characters.
Links and sources
Dongguan Times (东莞日报)
More Danwei Front Page of the Day stories
Danwei is an affiliate of the Australian Centre on China in the World at The Australian National University. This posting is a result of one project that is part of that on-going collaboration. Also seethechinastory.org.