PLA-backed video game lets players seize Diaoyus

A video game backed by the PLA that lets players fight enemy forces in islands disputed between Beijing and Tokyo was released last week.

Glorious Mission Online, China's answer to Call of Duty, marks the 86th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army.

The game, an online version of an earlier first-person shooter used by the PLA to train troops, features the East China Sea islands known as the Diaoyus in China and the Senkakus in Japan. A press release for the game says: "Players … will fight alongside Chinese armed forces and use weapons to tell the Japanese that 'Japan must return our stolen territory!'"

Images from the game's website are labelled "Guard the Diaoyu Islands", and a trailer posted online features shots of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

It also shows planes taking off from a computer-generated version of China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which went into service last year.

The game became available on Thursday, said its designers Giant Interactive.