China says Japan 'stole' isles, in verbal war at U.N.
News On Japan via Mainichi -- Sep 28
China accused Japan on Thursday of stealing a cluster of islands in the East China Sea and "grossly" violating Chinese sovereignty in the process, as part of verbal war that top officials from both countries engaged in at a U.N. session.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said that by unilaterally nationalizing the disputed islands earlier this month, the Japanese government has also posed "a grave challenge to the postwar international order."
Claiming the islands have been part of Chinese territory since "ancient times," Yang said, "Japan stole Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands from China" in 1895 at the end of the Sino-Japanese War.
He said Japan "forced the then Chinese government to sign an unequal treaty to cede these islands and other Chinese territories to Japan." But after its defeat in World War II, it was obligated by international treaties to return them to China, he added.
At the Nagoya Castle compound in central Japan, restoration work has been completed on the entrance and reception room of the main residential building for the first time in 70 years. (NHK )
The government of Japan has bestowed one of that nation's highest honors on a Japanese-American, a former U.S. Soldier and World War II veteran, for his work furthering relationships between the Japanese and Americans. (army.mil )
Osaka District Court accepted a claim on Thursday that losses on betting on horse racing should be deductible from payouts to calculate taxable income. (Jiji Press )
An 18-year-old youth has been arrested on a charge of attempted murder after he allegedly hit a 16-year-old girl in the head with a baseball bat. (Japan Today )
This Monday, members of the seminal metal band X Japan were in Odaiba rubbing shoulders with the likes of Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga and AKB48′s Yuko Oshima. The catch? They were all made out of wax. (Japan Times )
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has announced that it intends to draw up a set of unified rules for the use of baby strollers on buses and trains. (Japan Today )
A man stabbed his ex-wife on a street in Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday morning, and then caused a car crash while he was fleeing from the scene. (Japan Today )