Some 50 people were protesting February 21 in front of the Japanese Consulate General in Manhattan, New York against Japan's occupation of Diaoyutai Islands (Japanese refers to as Senkaku Islands) which is belonged to China. The protest was organized by the East Coast Coalition of Chinese Americans for the defense of Chinese Sovereign Rights over Diaoyutai.
Ignatius Y. Ding writes, Diaoyutai Islands have been Chinese territory since 1403. Chinese sovereignty over the islands is evidenced by documents published by the Japanese government as pointed out by History Professor Kiyoshi Inoue of Kyoto University. Mr. Ding also cited a maritime chart published for the military in 1785 by an eminent Japanese scholar, Hayashi Shihei (1738-1793), known as the Sangoku setsujozu (A Map of Three Adjoining Countries) attached to the Sanggoki tsuran zusetsu (An Illustrated General Survey of Three Countries) which clearly indicates the Chinese ownership of these islands.