TOKYO: Japan's government has agreed to buy a group of islands in the East
China Sea at the centre of a territorial dispute with China, a move likely to
irk Beijing, Japanese dailies said on Wednesday.
The central government will soon
sign a contract to buy the islands claimed by both countries, known in Japan as
Senkaku and in China as Diaoyu, for 2.05 billion yen (US$26 million) from their
Japanese landowners, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, quoting government sources.
Deputy Chief Cabinet secretary
Hiroyuki Nagahama met the landowners on Monday and struck the deal to buy three
major islands in the chain, including Uotsurijima, the largest island, Yomiuri
said.
Government officials were not
immediately available to confirm the reports.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's
cabinet would soon confirm the nationalisation of the islands and allocate
reserve funds for the purchase, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
Noda plans to formally inform the
Chinese about the move on the sidelines of the UN assembly meeting later this
month, Asahi said, but a Japan-China summit has not yet been set.
The move is aimed at underscoring
Japan's control of the islands, "but China, which has opposed the
nationalisation plan, will for sure step up criticism if the cabinet decides on
the purchase," the Asahi added.
Tokyo's outspoken nationalist
governor Shintaro Ishihara earlier this year unveiled a plan to buy the islands
for the metropolis. He charges that the country is not doing enough to protect
its territory and had said he wanted to develop the chain.
Testy Japan-China ties took a
turn for the worse in August after pro-Beijing activists landed on one of the
islands, which are controlled by Japan. They were arrested by Japanese
authorities and deported.
About a dozen Japanese
nationalists raised their country's flag on the island days later, prompting
protests in cities across China.
The car of the Japanese
ambassador was targeted in Beijing when an unidentified man ripped the national
flag off the vehicle.
The government has already told
Ishihara of its plan to nationalise the islands.
At the weekend Ishihara had
dispatched a survey team to waters close to the islands, ostensibly to look at
the possibility of building a harbour there if his purchase plan were
successful.
The government has no plans for
any construction on the archipelago in an effort to avoid further friction with
China and Taiwan, which also claims the islands, the Asahi said.
The chain comprises at least
eight islands and groups of rock 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) from Tokyo but
less than 200 kilometres from Taiwan.
-AFP/ac/xq
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