BEIJING - China has dispatched two patrol ships to "assert its
sovereignty" over islands at the centre of a row with Japan, state media
said Tuesday, as Tokyo completed its purchase of the disputed territory.
The two marine surveillance ships
had reached the waters around the Diaoyu islands -- known in Japan as the
Senkaku islands -- and would "take actions pending the development of the
situation," the Xinhua news agency said.
The arrival came as the Japanese
government announced it had completed its planned purchase of the islands,
which lie in a strategically important shipping area with valuable mineral
resources thought to be nearby.
"This should cause no
problem for Japan's ties with other countries and regions," said Japan's
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura.
"We have absolutely no
desire for any repercussions as far as Japan-China relations are concerned. It
is important that we avoid misunderstanding and unforeseen problems," he
told reporters.
Beijing had earlier summoned the
Japanese ambassador and lodged a strong protest over Tokyo's move to purchase
the islands, while vowing to take counter-measures.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said
the islands were "an inherent part of China's territory" and vowed
his country would "never ever yield an inch" on its sovereignty.
However, the ships China
dispatched were from the State Oceanic Authority and not military vessels and
analysts downplayed the significance of the move, saying the deal may even
allow Beijing and Tokyo to temper tensions.
"That some patrol vessels
were deployed in the vicinity of the islands was almost inevitable, but now, at
least, there is no longer a risk that some nationalist Japanese politician
would gain control of the islands," said China expert Jonathan Holslag.
"Most decision-makers in
Beijing are relieved that the Japanese national government bought the
Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands," added Holslag, head of research at the Brussels
Institute of Contemporary China Studies.
On Sunday, Chinese President Hu
Jintao urged Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda not to go ahead with the
purchase in brief talks held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific economic
summit in Vladivostok.
"China-Japan relations have
recently faced a severe situation due to the Diaoyu Island issue," a
foreign ministry statement quoted Hu as telling Noda.
"Japan must fully recognise
the gravity of the situation and should not make wrong decisions."
Officials at China's State
Oceanic Administration, which dispatched the two surveillance ships, were not
immediately available to clarify to AFP whether the vessels were armed.
Often testy Japan-China ties took
a turn for the worse in August when pro-Beijing activists landed on one of the
islands.
They were arrested by Japanese
authorities and deported. Days later about a dozen Japanese nationalists raised
their country's flag on the same island, Uotsurijima, prompting protests in
cities across China.
Japan's government currently
leases four islands and owns a fifth. It does not allow people to visit and has
a policy of not building anything there.
State television and all major
Chinese dailies in China Tuesday highlighted Beijing's condemnation of the
purchase. Around 200 people in eastern Shandong province took to the streets
Tuesday to protest, carrying banners and singing China's national anthem.
The islands, which lie around 200
kilometres (125 miles) from Taiwan and 2,000 kilometres from Tokyo, are also
claimed by Taipei, which strongly protested the Japanese move on Tuesday.
"We strongly demand that the
Japanese government revokes this move," Taiwan's foreign minister Timothy
Yang told reporters in Taipei.
"Japan's unilateral and
illegal action cannot change the fact that the Republic of China (Taiwan's
official name) owns the Diaoyu islands."
- AFP/al/ir
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