In mid-August 2012, a mainland fisherman climbed to the islands with a national flag in hand, followed by Japanese defenders chasing him.
After one angler was pushed to the ground, another tried to break through from the other side, but was still pounced by Japanese officers.
Who are these fishermen? How did they get out after they were controlled by the Japanese police?
Anglers
At 4 p.m. on August 15, 2012, the anniversary of Japan's defeat and surrender, the Hong Kong Fishing Group Office received a phone call saying that they had been surrounded by Japanese coast guard patrol vessels in the waters off the Diaoyu Islands.
About an hour later, the other party called again, and this time they said the good news, "Seven of us have jumped from the boat into the sea and swam to the Diaoyu Islands."
They ran around the Diaoyu Islands with the five-star red flag, preparing to plant the five-star red flag on the highest part of the islands and sing the national anthem under the national flag. It is also necessary to tear down the lighthouses that Japan illegally built on the Diaoyu Islands.
However, not long after the mainland's fishermen landed on the Diaoyu Islands, the Japanese defense forces rushed over. The mainland's fishermen dispersed to attract Japanese police officers, so that the fishermen with the national flag could smoothly plant the five-star red flag on the Diaoyu Islands.
The number of people who burst with the five-star red flag in their hands lived up to expectations, and the bright five-star red flag was successfully planted on the Diaoyu Island. Soon after, Japanese police rushed over, and they took control of the seven fishermen who had landed on the Diaoyu Islands.
The Japan Coast Guard arrested five of them red-handed and allowed the other two to return to the ship. However, the "Qifeng No. 2" on which the mainland fishermen were traveling had not yet left the waters of the Diaoyu Islands, and the Japan Coast Guard intercepted the "Qifeng No. 2" and took the remaining nine anglers on board with them.
Who are these 14 fishermen?
They come from all walks of life, from self-employed individuals to former Hong Kong district councillors, as well as journalists and crew members. The oldest is 67 years old, and the youngest is only 30 years old.
According to media reports, 14 fishermen took the "Qifeng 2" from Hong Kong to the Diaoyu Islands, and when approaching the Diaoyu Islands, the patrol ship of the Japan Coast Guard surrounded them and repeatedly hit the "Qifeng 2", resulting in the "Qifeng 2" steering wheel being damaged and needing to rely on computers to navigate, and the bow of the ship was also hit strongly, causing serious losses.
But no one thought about returning home, so everyone fought back with the bricks on the ship, broke through the encirclement of the Japanese patrol boats, and landed on the Diaoyu Islands.
After the 14 fishermen were brought under Japan's control, the mainland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs urgently summoned the Japanese ambassador to China and had a telephone conversation with Japan's vice foreign minister, making solemn representations about the incident, and once again reiterating Japan's position that "Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands belong to China" and demanding that Japan must immediately and unconditionally release the people.
The day after the incident, Japan released 14 mainland fishermen and the "Qifeng No. 2".
Why did Japan seize the Diaoyu Islands on the mainland?
Japan Ambition
There are two main reasons for Japan to seize the Diaoyu Islands on the mainland, the first is to contain the rise of the mainland.
Japan's audacity to seize the mainland's Diaoyu Islands is that it does not have a clear understanding of itself, and feels that Japan is the "only power" in East Asia, and this is the desire and ambition engraved in Japan's bones, and they always want to "unify the world."
Second, the United States, as the "world's policeman", is also contributing to the troubles. The United States has never wanted to see the rise of the mainland, because the rise of the mainland will break the "Asia-Pacific strategy" of the United States, which makes the United States uneasy, so it has frequently made moves against the mainland, which is another trade war and support for the countries surrounding the mainland, but the mainland does not accept the offer and develops its economic and military strength step by step.
Japan saw that the United States wanted to contain the mainland's rise, and in order to prove to the United States that "Japan is capable of becoming the only great power in East Asia," Japan took action against the mainland's Diaoyu Islands.
The second reason is Japan's selfishness.
Diaoyu Dao is rich in resources, rich in many precious Chinese medicinal materials, such as camellia, sea hibiscus and so on, it is reported that the Diaoyu Islands oil reserves are about 3 billion to 7 billion tons. It is a fishing place for fishermen from Fujian, Taiwan and Zhejiang in mainland China, including mackerel, yellowfin pufferfish and so on.
As everyone knows, although Japan is an island country, its resources are really not abundant, and now that the Diaoyu Islands are close at hand, and Japan has the backing of the United States, how can they not be moved.
Therefore, Japan deliberately ignored the fact that Diaoyu Dao belonged to China since ancient times, and privately discussed with the United States and other countries to include the mainland's Diaoyu Dao in its "territory," and also dispatched a defense force to the mainland's Diaoyu Dao to "illegally carry out duties."
So how did the mainland respond to Japan?
Let's go
In August 2012, after the Baoyu incident, the mainland once again stated that "Diaoyu Dao has been China's territory since ancient times."
However, at the end of December, the U.S. Senate openly amended their bill to include the mainland's Diaoyu Islands in the "Japan-U.S. Security Treaty" and praised Japan's actions.
We are a peace-loving country, and generally speaking, what we can solve with our mouths will never be solved by force. However, in the face of the bottomless illegal behavior of the United States and Japan, the mainland decided to strike strongly.
In April 2013, the mainland navy's guided-missile destroyer Lanzhou and frigate Hengshui made a tour of Japan's coastal waters off Okinawa and returned to patrol the waters near the Diaoyu Islands.
At the end of November, the Ministry of National Defense of the mainland announced the establishment of an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea, which included the relevant airspace of Diaoyu Dao and affiliated islands in the East China Sea prevention and control identification zone in the form of a document.
In early November 2023, three Japanese vessels and patrol vessels illegally entered the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Islands on the mainland, and mainland coast guard ships took necessary control measures against them.
On January 27, 2024, Japanese fishing boats and patrol vessels came to the Diaoyu Islands to provoke us, and were warned and driven away by the mainland coast guard ships in accordance with the law.
The Diaoyu Islands have been Chinese since ancient times, and this is a fact that no one can change.
Since the 70s of the last century, the mainland people have spontaneously held many "fishing protection" actions.
In 1971, more than 2,000 Taiwanese students in the United States protested at the United Nations headquarters against Japan's occupation of mainland territory.
In 1996, Hong Kong fisherman Chan Yuk-cheung and his friends tried to destroy a Japanese lighthouse on the Diaoyu Islands on the mainland, but Chan Yuk-cheung died while jumping into the sea and landing.
In 2003, the "Bao Diaoyu Group" went to the Diaoyu Islands to protest against Japan's aggression. In 2004, Feng Jinhua from Shanxi, China, led the fishermen to successfully land on the Diaoyu Islands, and the five-star red flag was successfully fluttered on the Diaoyu Islands......
In order to curb the mainland's development, the United States has not hesitated to unleash Japan's "militarism." In the end, this kind of behavior can only be used as a cocoon to bind itself.
Resources:
[1] CCTV "[News 1+1] On August 15, we landed on Diaoyu Island!" 20120815
[2] Communist Party member network, "The Touching Past of the Folk "Baoyu"", 20121226