Japanese YouTube videos on disputed isle claims anger Beijing, Seoul
As Tokyo plans large-scale war games, China and South Korea react furiously to YouTube clips spelling out claims to disputed islands
Japan's foreign ministry has prompted outrage in Beijing and Seoul by setting up a YouTube channel devoted to bolstering Tokyo's claim of ownership of two disputed island groups.
So far, the channel includes two 90-second videos that use historical photographs and documents that purport to prove Japan's sovereignty over the two archipelagos, which are the focus of territorial rows with China and South Korea.
They were posted last week, just ahead of huge Japanese wargames beginning next week that are aimed at boosting Japan's ability to protect remote islands. Destroyers, fighter jets and 34,000 troops are to take part in the exercise. The air-sea-land drill from November 1-18 will involve amphibious landings on the uninhabited atoll of Okidaitojima, 400 kilometres southeast of the main Okinawan island, a defence ministry official said.
The videos, which represent Japan's latest public relations volley on the issue, are currently only in Japanese, but the ministry plans to provide versions in 10 other languages, including Chinese, Korean and English.
The territories in question are the Diaoyu Islands, which Japan controls and calls the Senkakus; and Takeshima, which South Korea controls and calls the Dokdo Islands.
"We are also preparing three other short movies on the Senkaku islands and one on the issue of Takeshima," a ministry spokesman said. "The new ones will be just 30 seconds in length and we hope they will be watched by smartphone and tablet users."