China en Japan oneens over soevereiniteit Okinawa

China criticized Japan on Thursday for lodging a diplomatic protest against a Chinese state media commentary calling into question Japanese sovereignty over the southern Ryukyu Islands, which include Okinawa.

The latest angry exchange could further strain tense relations between Asia's two-largest economies, which are involved in a stand-off over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

On Wednesday, the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece, published a commentary by two Chinese government-backed scholars who said ownership of the Ryukyu islands should be re-examined, prompting Japan to lodge the diplomatic protest.