IN AN unprecedented display of Chinese unity, the red flag of the People's Republic of China and the rival blue and red flag of Taiwan flew together briefly over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, writes Conor O'Clery.
They were planted there in a daring venture by nationalists seeking to claim the archipelago from the Japanese.
Amateur frogmen from Taiwan and Hong Kong went ashore through heavy surf at dawn yesterday after slipping through a maritime Japanese cordon. Some 300 Chinese supporters on a flotilla of 50 small craft cheered as the two flags fluttered together before being picked up and blown away by the wind.
The mission failed to achieve its goal of removing a makeshift lighthouse erected by Japanese nationalists in July to claim the islands for Tokyo. But it is likely to defuse the intense nationalist anger which has united Chinese in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan over the Japanese stunt. The lighthouse was put up by extreme Japanese nationalists, whose Tokyo headquarters was raided last week by police.
But the Chinese protests were backed by members of the Hong Kong legislature and had raised nationalist temperatures to a dangerous level in Beijing. The islands, which are claimed by China, Taiwan and Japan, are known as the Diaoyus to the Chinese and as the Senkaku to the Japanese.
"We will continue our effort to retake the Dioayus," said Taiwan protest leader Mr Chin Chienshon. "We will not quit until we succeed." Japan said the landing was "regrettable" and that its forces acted prudently under the circumstances but that future raiding parties would be arrested.
Japanese patrol boats were unable to prevent some of the dozens of small Chinese vessels from getting close to the shore. Video from the scene showed several boats in collision with Japanese ships and chaotic scenes in the waters just off the rocky coastline. One boat was damaged and 13 of its 15 passengers were moved to another craft. The successful protesters waved their arms from the top of a small cliff after their exploit, to the delight of supporters.
Last month the leader of a Hong Kong protest group, Mr Chan Yukcheung, was drowned in a protest swim near the islands. Some 6,000 people attended his funeral in Hong Kong on Sunday.
Despite the joint flying of flags, Taiwan said it would not co operate with China to resolve the sovereignty of the archipelago. China has considered Taiwan a renegade province since the nationalists fled there after the communists won the civil war in 1949. Taiwan is seeking international recognition as an independent state.