Video Game Lets China Seize Islands From Japan

Players can shoot Japanese soldiers as they defend the disputed islands in a Chinese army training game released to the public.

A gamer plays Glorious Mission in an office in Shanghai

The islands are under Japanese control

China has released a computer game originally designed to train its army which allows players to defend contested islands in the East China Sea.

The  Diaoyu islands, or Senkaku to the Japanese, have been at the centre of a decades-long dispute between the two Asian powers and there are regular skirmishes off its coasts.
To celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) the Chinese have released an online game called Glorious Mission Online.
Players can shoot Japanese soldiers, who drop dead shooting up a small Japanese flag with its red sun styled to resemble a bullet wound.
Glorious Mission Online was developed by Giant Interactive Group, a Chinese developer and publisher, in collaboration with the PLA for use in training simulations.

Japanese and Chinese vessels near the disputed islands

"Players will do battle alongside the PLA, with guns in hand, and tell the Japanese: 'You will not violate our sovereign territory!'" says a statement on the game's website.
The PLA was interested in having a 3D interactive game for simulations with virtual replicas of their weapons, said Richard Chiang, a spokesman for Giant Interactive.
Mr Chiang said: "The military was 100% behind this game. Rather than playing the same foreign games like Call Of Duty and being American Marines shooting Russians or whatnot, Chinese can actually play as Chinese soldiers."
The row over the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, which has been administered by Japan since 1971,  has badly affected relations between Beijing and Tokyo.
Japan's defence ministry declined to comment on the game's release.