China takes its campaign to wrestle administrative control of disputed islands in the East China Sea from Japan in a Web site that went online this week.

The agency responsible for China's maritime domain, the State Oceanic Administration, has put up the Web site, www.diaoyudao.org.cn.

Like Us on Facebook

China's state-run news outlet, Xinhua, said the Web site provides information on the islands' history and natural environment, supported by news, treatises and moving pictures, noting that a territorial row over the Diaoyus between Japan and China does exist.

A quick look at the site shows the videos are apparently not online yet.

A blazing red Chinese flag stands out from an azure field on top of the Web page, with no hint of Japan's territorial markings. The site emphatically declares that China has absolute sovereignty over the islands.

A series of blurry images show a bird's eye view of the rock outcroppings from the sea that have been a thorn in China and Japan relations for several years. The Web site zeroes in on the latitude and longitude of all the islets above sea level along with their width and length.

China asserts in the Web site its rights over the islands and denies the legitimacy of Japanese claims. The site said Japan took advantage of the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 and secretly included in the islands in its maps. China contends that before the so-called discovery of the islands, it already exercised sovereignty over them for several hundred years.

Beijing rejected Japan's terra nullius claim, which meant no one previously owned the rock structures, in annexing the maritime territory. The site said it was an assault on China's sovereignty and Tokyo was in violation of international law.

The Diaoyu Web page splashed photos of China's coast guard vessels patrolling around the islands, a picturesque background if tourists made their way to the islands.

The site declared that Japan may take all the "unilateral" actions it wants but it would not change the fact that China owns the Diaoyu island chain.

TagsSenkaku Islands