China Steps Up Language on Disputed Islands

This conflict isn't ending anytime soon

The Chinese government has dialled up its rhetoric on Japan's control of a disputed chain of islands in a move likely to further inflame a dangerous standoff between Beijing and Tokyo.

"Japan should face the reality that the situation at the Diaoyu Islands has already undergone fundamental change," a spokesman for China's foreign ministry told reporters on Wednesday.

The foreign ministry remark came a day after the State Oceanic Administration, one of the government agencies that enforce China's maritime interests, said it had taken measures to chase Japanese ships out of the territorial waters of the islands.