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Lead Up To WW3: JAPAN Vs CHINA In Territorial ISLAND Dispute - OKINAWA! Japan's ownership of an entire archipelago in the East China Sea may be up for review - not by Tokyo, but by Beijing. The Okinawa Islands chain is home to sprawling US military bases, and tens of thousands of American troops. The People's Daily - considered a mouthpiece of China's Communist party - all but laid claim to the archipelago in an article written by academics. Japan quickly hit back, denouncing the paper as a political tool and declaring its ownership of Okinawa beyond doubt. It's the latest territorial dispute marring relations between the two Asian powers - both are also locked into contest over another island chain. China's leading newspaper has upped the ante in the country's intensifying territorial dispute with Japan, claiming its high time both sides "re-examine" who has sovereignty over Okinawa -- which hosts a massive US military contingent. The People's Daily, which serves as the mouthpiece for the ruling Communist party, ran the lengthy commentary questioning the historical status of Japan's southernmost Ryukyu island chain, which includes Okinawa. The researchers, hailing from a prominent state-run think tank, argue ownership of the Ryukyus should be considered in light of post-World War II declarations which require Japan to return Chinese territory. The academics claim the Ryukyus were once a "vassal state of China" before they were absorbed by Japan in the late 1800s during the twilight of the Qing Dynasty. The researchers also reiterated Chinese government claims over a tiny group of islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. The islands have been a potential flashpoint between the two states over the past several months, with Chinese maritime surveillance vessels sporadically entering Japanese territorial waters following Tokyo's decision to effectively nationalize the islets last September. The most recent claims regarding Okinawa's sovereignty are likely meant to pressure Tokyo over the East China Sea dispute, Willy Lam, an expert on Chinese politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told AFP. "I think this is psychological warfare," he said, adding: "The major point is to put pressure on Japan so that the Japanese administration will be forced to make concessions over the Senkaku islands." While the daily is often used a barometer on issues both domestic and international for China's ruling class, the Chinese government has not explicitly endorsed the claims. When asked about Japanese ownership of Okinawa, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said scholars had long researched the history of the island chain. However, she was equivocal about the "Diaoyu islands", claiming they "are China's inherent territory, and have never been part of the Ryukyus or Okinawa." The Japanese government was dismissive of the commentary, saying the views expressed were "completely out of the question." READ MORE AT: http://rt.com/news/china-japan-okinawa-ownership-018/