Enemy Japanese soldiers are torn to pieces in Defend the Diaoyu Islands. Screengrab: Wired

A new iPad game called Defend the Diaoyu Islands takes an ongoing dispute between China and Japan and makes a game out of it one that paints the Japanese as invaders and tasks you with brutally killing them.

The conflict concerns what Japan calls the Senkaku Islands, a small chain of islands situated between Okinawa, Taiwan, and mainland China. Japan has controlled the islands for decades, first claiming them in the 19th century.

China believes that Japan ceded its authority following its surrender in World War II. No one lives on the islands, but recent years have seen non-lethal maritime confrontations between the Japanese coast guard and encroaching vessels from China and Taiwan.

Defend the Diaoyu Islands, published by Shenzhen ZQGame Company, depicts the islands as sovereign Chinese territory under siege from the Japanese. The website Mobisights translates the App Store description as follows:

Defend the Diaoyu Islands, for they are the inalienable territory of China! Recently, the Japanese government has been saber-rattling, making attempts to seize the Diaoyu Islands and even arresting our fishermen compatriots while selling off fish from the islands. Today, you can vent your anger by trying this game demo, working together to eradicate all Japanese devils landing on the island and turning them back towards their own lands. Defend the Diaoyu Islands!

The game is free and only available on the Chinese iTunes store. Wired was able to download and play it.

The Japanese enemies range from World War II soldiers to stereotypes such as samurai, sumo wrestlers, and ninjas. No Chinese soldiers are depicted on the battlefield.

Players defend a wall on the left side of the screen by tapping and swiping on the Japanese forces, hurling them into the air or dragging them across the ground. The Japanese are not merely killed: They flop around like rag dolls and become dismembered after a few strikes.

More powerful weapons are unlocked as the game goes on, fueled by a rage meter that is refilled by spirits that float up from Japanese corpses.

Link:

Chinese iPad Game Depicts Slaughter of Stereotypical Japanese