Wednesday afternoon, 14 activists from Hong Kong successfully landed on one of a set of disputed islands, over which Japan, China and Taiwan all claim sovereignty, and planted Chinese flags on the island as a gesture of declaring ownership. Chinese media, including the state broadcaster China Central Television, reported and lauded their patriotic feat, while trying their best efforts to hide the national flag of Taiwan in an iconic photo. Senkaku Islands, popularly known to the Chinese-speaking population as Diaoyu Islands, are currently controlled by Japan. But both People’s Republic of China and Taiwan (Republic of China) claim sovereignty over the territory, citing historical records back in the 15th century, an unequal treaty signed by China’s Qing Dynasty in 1895 that ceded Diaoyu with the whole island of Taiwan to Japan, and clandestine deal made between Japan and the United States after the defeat of Japan in the World War II that allows Japan to retain ownership.