Since he first exhorted netizens to “fight for our dear motherland, party, military, and people” on Weibo in February, Major General Luo Yuan has attracted plenty of attention online. Luo is not soft-spoken about China’s territorial disputes; he has suggested that the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands, which both China and Japan claim, are the perfect spot for a Chinese target range.
Anti-Japanese fervor soared last September after the Japanese government purchased three of the Diaoyu islands. Protesters in China terrorized Japanese restaurants and looted Japanese stores.
Luo’s most recent provocative statement, playing on that same nationalist strain, comes not from his own Weibo account, but from that of the economic newspaper Caijing:
财经网: 【Luo Yuan: Plant Flag at Bottom of Diaoyu Islands】Luo Yuan, vice director of the Department of World Military Research at the Academy of Military Science, says that China should emphasize the existence of [Chinese] administration, law, military, law enforcement, economy, and public opinion in and about the East China and South China seas. National defense should be integrated with scientific research to take advantage of the Jiaolong manned deep-sea submersible to plant the “five-star red flag” at the bottom of the Diaoyu Islands and the South China Sea Islands, in order to assert China’s sovereignty. http://t.cn/zQatOtx
【罗援：把国旗插到钓鱼岛海底】军事科学院世界军事研究部副部长罗援表示，我们在东海和南海应凸显：行政存在，法律存在，军事存在，执法存在，经济存在，舆论存在。国防应与科研相结合，可利用“蛟龙号”载人深潜器的优势，把五星红旗插到钓鱼岛和南海岛礁海底，以宣示中国主权 http://t.cn/zQatOtx
[Source]
In the South China Sea, China claims the Spratly and Paracel Islands and Scarborough Shoal.
Despite some popular support for these territorial claims, netizens responding to Luo find his proposal laughable at best:
苍_我是锄禾CH: What a freak show! Planting the flag at the bottom of the sea? To tell the fish that they belong to China?
奇葩！！！把国旗插到海底，给鱼看吗？告诉它们是中国的鱼？
老舒批判：Major General Luo’s badge is sewn into his underwear!
罗将军的少将军衔是缝在底裤上吗！
FENJINHAO: How about to pouring military Maotai into the water off the Diaoyu!
把军供茅台撒向钓鱼岛海域吧！
HTTP_502: Take our specialty ditch oil with you.
把特产的地沟油也带去吧
王作夫: Asserting our sovereignty to the monsters at the bottom of the sea? Director Luo must have just watched Pacific Rim.
向海底来的怪兽宣誓主权，罗部长一定刚看完《环太平洋》
朕是你猫哥: #breaktime Teacher Luo says, “We could plant the five-star red flag at the bottom of the Diaoyu Islands and the South China Sea Islands, in order to assert China’s sovereignty.” What a riot! I couldn’t help but make an illustration for Teacher Luo. Hope you like it!
＃忙里偷闲＃@罗援 老师说：我国可以采取把五星红旗查到钓鱼岛和南海岛礁海底，以宣示中国主权。这话实在太有喜感了，忍不住手欠为罗援老师拼了个图，您感受一下。
Luo’s ideas have generated buzz in Japan as well. Readers of Japanese can view social media response at Topsy.
Read more about the Diaoyu Islands from CDT.
Via CDT Chinese. Translation by Mengyu Dong.
