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China plants flag in south sea amid disputes Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:27am GMT BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it had used a small, manned submarine to plant the national flag deep beneath the South China Sea, where Beijing has tussled with Washington and Southeast Asian nations over territorial disputes. The submarine achieved the feat during 17 dives from May to July, when it went as deep as 3,759 metres (12,330 ft) below the South China Sea, the official China News Service said, citing the Ministry of Science and Technology and State Oceanic Administration. Chinese news reports did...

Swedish researchers have joined Danish colleagues in an attempt to establish Denmark's claims to parts of the Arctic region. The expedition follows the planting of a flag on the underwater Lomonosov Ridge by a Russian expedition last week. The expedition, led by Swedish icebreaker Oden, set off from Norway on Sunday. It is being led jointly by Martin Jakobsson of Stockholm University and Christian Marcussen of the Geological Survey of Denmark. The Danes claim that the ridge is on the same continental shelf as Greenland, which is a Danish territory. They hope that the expedition will prove the country's claim...

China's Wu Yi cancels meeting with Japan PM KoizumiMon May 23, 2005 08:30 AM ET By Masayuki Kitano TOKYO (Reuters) - Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi cancelled a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday and flew back to China a day earlier than scheduled, saying she had domestic business to attend to. Koizumi said he did not know why Wu was returning to China, and officials in Beijing had no immediate comment on the cancellation of the meeting, which had been seen as another opportunity to improve frayed Sino-Japanese relations. "It would have been a good opportunity...