According to Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, they are in the final stages of negotiating the purchase of a disputed set of islands, Senkaku Islands, in the East India Sea. The islands are a prime cause of a diplomatic argument between Japan and China. There has been violent acts of protests as a result. Click below to read more.
The Japanese government is in the final stages of negotiations to bring a hotly disputed set of small islands in the East China Sea under public ownership, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Friday, stressing his country’s claims of sovereignty.
The islands are at the heart of a bitter diplomatic argument between Japan and China that has resulted in occasionally violent acts of public protest. The uninhabited islands, known in Japan as Senkaku and in China as Diaoyu, are privately owned by a Japanese family.
A public initiative begun in April by the outspoken governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, to raise money to acquire the islands for the city authorities has set off a new cycle of tensions between Japan and China over which country has sovereignty over them.
Reports in the Japanese news media this week suggested the Japanese authorities had agreed a 2.05-billion-yen ($26.1-million) deal to buy the islands from the private owners.
In an interview with CNN on Friday, Noda declined to discuss the size of the sum likely to be paid for the islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan, because of the sensitivity of the matter.
But he said the talks were in their “final stages,” and he remained unequivocal about which country the islands belong to.
“The Senkaku Islands are an inherent part of Japanese territory, historically as well as under international law, so there’s no territorial claim issue between the two countries,” he said. “Right now, it is the ownership issue — whether the individual owns these islands, or the Tokyo metropolitan government or the state. And I think we have to clearly and solidly explain these stances to the Chinese side.”
His comments are unlikely to please Beijing, which issued the latest of its angry statements on the matter on Wednesday.
“I want to emphasize again that any unilateral actions taken by the Japanese regarding the Diaoyu Islands are illegal and invalid,” said Hong Lei, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.
“We are closely monitoring the developments and will take necessary measures to defend our territorial sovereignty,” Hong said.
