The Chinese activists land on the Diaoyu Islands on Aug 15, 2012 and fourteen are arrested by Japanese police.

The diplomatic tension between China and Japan flared on Aug 15 as Hong Kong activists landed on an island at the center of a territorial row that has plagued the two Asian countries for decades.

The group sailed from Hong Kong on August 12 to the archipelago, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, with the aim of planting a Chinese flag. Finally, seven people jumped into the water from their boat and reached the rocky shore. They were surrounded by Japanese coastguard vessels and a helicopter that appeared in advance when the Japanese government learned of their intention.

Fourteen people, including two reporters from Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, were taken into custody and the Japanese government will carry out a full investigation, said a Japanese Coast Guard spokesman.

The Diaoyu archipelago, now actually controlled by Japan, has long been a major impediment to the healthy diplomatic relationship of China and Japan. Many Chinese groups have made repeated attempts to reach the islands, but most of them have been blocked by Japanese patrol vessels.

China's vice-foreign minister, Fu Ying, summoned the Japanese ambassador to China, Uichiro Niwa. She reiterated China's sovereignty over the islands and demanded that Japan guarantee the safety of those arrested and release them immediately, Xinhua news agency reported.

The arrests sparked an indignant national mood, as China marked the anniversary of Tokyo's World War II surrender. Many Chinese people urged the Chinese government to be more assertive in protecting Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity in a way that matches China’s role on the global arena as a rising economic and political power.

The Northern Territories and Takeshima Island are disputed by Japan, Russia and South Korea, but they are not under the Japanese thumb, compared to the Diaoyu Islands. That may explain why so many Chinese people are pushing for the government to adopt the hard-line Kremlin policy, and occupy the islands before it is too late.

“The President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, landed on the Northern Territories; the President of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, landed on Takeshima Island; Hong Kong residents landed on the Diaoyu Islands. So why don’t the people from the Chinese mainland leave a footprint on the place they all treasure?” said Sina Weibo user 部落格-格格落.

User 苏小满 wrote：“On the issue of Diaoyu Islands, China should not ‘show the white feather,’ we should play hardball.”