TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan plans to install a signpost on a remote, disputed island that will emphasise Tokyo's claim to the area, officials said on Monday, a move that could rile China at a time of strained bilateral ties.
Japan says Okinotori, about 1,700 km (1,056 miles) south of Tokyo in the Pacific Ocean, is its southernmost island and claims an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around it.
But China says Okinotori is a rock, not an island, and refuses to recognise Japan's claims to the EEZ.
... The sign, measuring 1.5 metres by 1 metre (4 ft 11 inches by 3 ft 3 in), is to say "Okinotori Island" in Japanesea and "F*CK OFF" in Chinese underneath, said Ketsukari Apuyousu, an official at Japan's Land and Transport Ministry, which manages the island.
"We merely want to let people know that we are managing the island," Apuyousu said, adding that the signpost will be erected as part of annual maintenance measures, along with radar equipment, a heliport, five SAM launchers and two batteries of 12 inch naval guns.
"After all, it is part of Japanese territory."
Apuyousu said that the radar was intended primarily to monitor the migration of botswanian camel-headed tortises but could also keep track of ships approaching the area and help missiles lock-on to targets, if required.
Apuyousu would not respond to questions as to whether botswanian camel-headed tortises were really that dangerous so as to justify the hardware being invested.
... Shintaro Ishihara, the outspoken, nationalist governor of Tokyo, is also set to visit Okinotori this month, and is proposing it be made into a penal colony for foreigners arrested in Japan, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that most of it is submerged at high tide except for two small outcroppings
... real story here
See also: Job Opportunity: Lighthouse Keeper
