TOKYO, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- China and South Korea both chastised Japan Friday after Tokyo reiterated its claims on a string of contested islands. <\/p>\n
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said in a speech to the parliament that Japan was maintaining its claim on the so-called Dokdo islands in the East China Sea, which prompted a stiff response from the South Koreans and Chinese, who also claim jurisdiction over the tiny islands. <\/p>\n
\"Such groundless claims and useless attempts repeated over time only show the world that Japan is still under the spell of imperialism,\" the South Korean foreign ministry said in a written statement.The ministry said the hard-line attitude of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government was needlessly belligerent, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said. <\/p>\n
China currently maintains control of the islands and recently announced the formation of an air-defense identification zone over the region that barred other nations from flying through without permission. <\/p>\n
\"It is just and legitimate for China to set up the ADIZ, about which Japan is not entitled to criticize,\" a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman told Japan's Kyodo News. <\/p>\n
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Seoul, Beijing push back on Japan over disputed islands<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TOKYO, Jan. Continue reading