A landing by Japanese activists Sunday on an island claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan sparked anti-Japanese protests across China, as tensions continued to rise in a pair of territorial spats roiling relations in East Asia.
territorial：领土的，地方的，区域的 spat：争吵，口角
The flare-ups are also adding to the challenges for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who's likely to face increased opposition pressure to call early elections when parliament returns from a week-long break on Monday.
flare-up：爆发的冲突，喧笑
The disputes - involving two sets of islands whose sovereignty is contested - are stirring nationalist sentiments throughout the region in a way that hasn't been seen since 2010, when Japan's detention of a Chinese fishing-boat captain who'd collided with a Japanese patrol vessel in disputed waters sparked demonstrations throughout China.
sovereignty：主权，主权国家，统治权，君主 contested： 争辩，提出质疑，争论，争夺 nationalist sentiments：民族主义情感
collide：碰撞，冲突，抵触 patrol vessel：巡逻艇，巡逻船 detention：拘留，延迟，挽留
Sunday, 10 Japanese activists defied Japanese coast-guard warnings, the coast guard said, and swam to one of the group of East China Sea islands called the Senkakus by Japan and Diaoyu by China. The islands are controlled by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan as well. The Sunday landing followed one last week by a group of activists from Hong Kong; the Japanese government deported those activists on Friday.
coast guard：海岸巡逻队队员 deport：驱逐出境；举止；放逐
Although the coast guard said it didn't know the identities of Sunday's swimmers, Japanese press reported they were likely among a group of around 150 people, including national and local politicians, who'd taken boats to nearby waters to honor the dead from a ship that sank there during World War II.
The landing sparked anti-Japanese protests in several Chinese cities Sunday. About 1,000 demonstrators in the southern city of Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong, paraded through the city's streets, waving Chinese flags and calling for the government to defend the country's territorial claims against Japan. A number of Japanese-brand cars were overturned or smashed.
overturn：推翻，倾覆，破坏 smash：粉碎，冲突，大败，溃裂，了不起的；非常轰动的；出色的
Protesters staged a sit-in in front of the Japanese consulate in nearby Guangzhou, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported, and a similar protest in China's northeast city Shenyang also targeted the Japanese consulate.
consulate：领事，领事馆
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Sunday released a statement saying it had lodged protests with Japan's ambassador in Beijing.
lodge：提出，寄存，借住，旅馆
Meanwhile, Mr. Noda's government is continuing to apply pressure in a separate territorial dispute triggered by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's recent visit to the Liancourt Rocks, controlled by South Korea but claimed by Japan as well. The islands are referred to as Takeshima by Tokyo and Dokdo by Seoul.
South Korean：韩国人
Mr. Lee followed the visit by criticizing Japan over its treatment of Korea when it held the peninsula as a colony last century, saying Tokyo had not properly atoned. He further raised the tension with remarks in a talk to students last week that if Japan's emperor visited Korea, he should 'make a genuine apology' over the Koreans who died fighting the Japanese. The remarks were widely reported in Japan, where they were taken to mean that the emperor should offer up an apology if he wanted an invitation from Korea.
peninsula：半岛 atone：弥补，赎罪，赎回，偿还
Japan has responded with unusual vehemence, cancelling a meeting this week of the two country's finance ministers and saying it could cancel part of a currency-swap agreement. The Japanese government also announced Friday that it wanted to take the territorial dispute to the International Court of Justice. Seoul quickly dismissed the idea, as it had when Japan proposed it in 1954 and 1962. The court requires that both parties agree to its hearing any dispute.
vehemence：激烈，热烈 dismiss：解散，解雇，开除
'It will be difficult to improve relations with South Korea while Mr. Lee is in office,' Seiji Maehara, policy chief of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said on a Sunday talk show.
Foreign-affairs experts say the escalating tit-for-tat is at least partly driven by domestic politics. Analysts in Seoul said that Mr. Lee's more-assertive approach reflects his frustration with a lack of progress in resolving historical disputes with Tokyo, as well as a desire to raises his low public approval ratings before his term in office ends in February.
escalating：逐步上升 tit-for-tat：针锋相对，以牙还牙 assertive：肯定的，独断的，坚定而自信的
Japan's Mr. Noda is also under pressure to show a strong hand. Opposition lawmakers who are pushing for elections soon, to take advantage of the ruling party's sinking popularity criticize his handling of the territorial disputes. On Sunday, some opposition lawmakers blasted the government's decision to deport rather than prosecute the Hong Kong activists who'd landed on the disputed island.
ruling party：执政党 opposition lawmakers：反对派议员 prosecute：检举，贯彻，从事，依法执行，起事，告发
Sadakazu Tanigaki, president of opposition Liberal Democratic Party president, said in a speech in central Japan Saturday that the current government has proven itself incapable of diplomacy, and that his party will consider submitting no-confidence and censure motions against Mr. Noda, according to business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun.
censure：责备，责难，谴责