Politics
China Calls Okinotorishima 'Just a Rock' as a Japanese Lawmaker Says TV Told Him to Remove His Taiwan Badge
China's foreign ministry called Okinotorishima 'a rock, not an island' and rejected Japan's protest over a Chinese live-fire drill inside Japan's claimed exclusive economic zone, saying Tokyo was 'looking for a pretext.' Around the same time, lawmaker Haruo Kitamura said that when he appeared on a TV program, a director asked him to remove a Taiwan lapel badge out of deference to China. The two stories merged online into a single theme: anger at Beijing's stance, and equal anger at Japanese media accused of self-censoring to avoid provoking China. Commenters hammered the double standard of a country that builds artificial islands calling Okinotorishima a mere rock, and framed the badge episode as journalism surrendering its own freedom.