Chinese chef saved by Japan after bid to claim Diaoyu by balloon

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-01-02

A still of footage of the balloon floating on the ocean shown on
Japanese television. (Internet photo)

A 35-year-old Chinese chef failed in his attempt to reach the disputed Diaoyutai (Diaoyu or Senkaku) islands in the East China Sea aboard his balloon on Jan. 1, according to the Hong Kong-based Communist Party mouthpiece Ta Kung Pao.

The cook is a native of Hebei province in northern China. On the morning of Jan. 1 he departed from Fuqing in the southeast coastal province of Fujian to claim Chinese sovereignty over the disputed islands, which have been administered by Japan as the Senkaku since 1972 but are also claimed by China and Taiwan. However, his balloon encountered technical problems and was forced to land in the sea. The chef then radioed the coast guard in Taiwan to rescue him.

Ironically, the Republic of China coast guard then requested that the Japan Coast Guard carry out the rescue operation. The Chinese chef's balloon was eventually located by a Japan Coast Guard helicopter that afternoon, according to the Ta Kung Pao. He was eventually turned over to a Chinese coast guard vessel about 22 kilometers off the islands at 7:48pm local time.