Chinese Foreign Ministry: "No Basis" For Talks over Disputed Islands

China has reinterated it "no contest" stance over the Diao Yu/Senakaku Islands, despite calls by the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for high level talks concerning the worthless collection of rocks which might just have lots and lots of oil and natural gas reserves under the waters nearby.  Of the request, Li Baodong, the Chinese deputy foreign minister accused the Japanese or "grandstanding"

"If Japan wants to arrange a meeting to resolve problems, they should stop with the empty talk and doing stuff for show," Li said, when asked about the possibility of a meeting of Chinese and Japanese leaders on the sidelines of the G20.

A number of boats and plans from both Japan and China have sailed close to, or into, or nearby the islands, as both countries try to legitimize their claim the islands in what could only be described as "well, he started it!" diplomacy.

Japan's Coast Guard said on Tuesday that three Chinese Coast Guard vessels had entered what Japan considered to be its territorial waters near the disputed islands. China said the trip was a routine patrol in its own waters.

Technically, the islands are owned by Japan, but China says that historically, they are Chinese.  The dispute is one of many that the Japanese and Chinese have been at loggerheads at, with the Chinese seeking every opportunity to antagonize the Japanese.  Abe has, in recent months sought to cool tensions between the two countries, but failed to win any brownie points in Beijing when he sent a gift bought with his own money to a controversial Shinto Shrine that honors convicted war criminals.

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Ganbare Nippon Sail Close to Disputed Islands

Reuters is reporting that a right wing group of Japanese nationalists has arrived in the waters of a group of islands technically owned by Japan, but which China claims sovereignty over.

About 20 members of the group "Stand Firm Japan" (Ganbare Nippon) arrived on Sunday, but said that they had no plans to land on the islands.

"We want to show these islands are under Japanese control," Satoru Mizushima, the right-wing film maker who leads Ganbare Nippon, told activists before departure late on Saturday from a port in Okinawa. "We won't be doing anything extreme but we need to show the Chinese what we're made of."

The uninteresting collection of islands wouldn't be the source of so much controversy between the two countries if they weren't located near rich fishing grounds, and potentially huge reserves of oil and gas.

The arrival of the activists coincides with the anniversary of the surrender of the Japanese in World War II.  Intending to avoid inflaming political tensions in the area,  Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan skipped a visit to Yasukuni Shrine, a Shinto shrine that honors the memory of several Japanese military officers convicted of war crimes, but he did send an offering bought with his own money.

The timing of the arrival of the activists will do little to help Abe's efforts to improve relations with China, even though his current efforts are being received with lukewarm appreciation in Beijing.