Island Dispute Makes For an Awkward Anniversary

Celebrations of renewed diplomatic relations are a little dampened this year

(Reuters) - Next week's 40th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic ties between China and Japan has been ruined by Japan's decision to buy a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

A flare-up in a diplomatic row over the uninhabited islands, called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, triggered mass protests in China and heightened maritime tension as Chinese boats approached waters claimed by Japan.