Japan’s coast guard plucked a stranded Chinese balloonist out of the sea near the disputed Senkaku Islands on New Year’s day after the man tried and failed to land on one of the islands.
The man’s political affiliation and precise motive were unclear, but the coast guard said yesterday that he told his rescuers he had been trying to reach one of the Japanese-administered islands, which are known as the Diaoyu in China. He was identified as Xu Shuaijun, a 35-year-old cook from Hebei province.
Chinese activists have previously landed or attempted to land ships on the uninhabited islands, which are at the centre of a bitter territorial dispute.