A Chinese man has been rescued by the Japanese Coast Guard after a failed attempt to land a hot air balloon on a group of disputed islands in the middle of the East China Sea.
The hot air balloon in the East China Sea. Photo: AFP / Japan Coast Guard
The man, who said he was a cook, was heading to an East China Sea island chain controlled by Japan. The Coast Guard said he had been handed to a Chinese patrol ship.
After receiving a request to search for a missing person on Wednesday afternoon, the man and the hot air balloon were found around 20km from the islands. The BBC reports the balloon had been launched from Fujian province.
The islands are known in Japan as Senkaku and as Diaoyu in China, and have been a source of tension between the nations for decades.
