TOKYO: Japan will nationalize a group of islands at the center of a territorial dispute with China, the government said yesterday, as Tokyo tries both to appease nationalists and keep Beijing onside.
In a deal reported to be worth 2.05 billion yen ($26 million) Premier Yoshihiko Noda’s administration agreed to buy three islands it already administers, which China claims as its own. “During the ministerial meeting today, we agreed that we will obtain the ownership of the three Senkaku islands as quickly as possible,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters, using the Japanese name for what China calls Diaoyu.
The decision to purchase the islands, which will be formally owned by Japan’s Coast Guard, was aimed at their “quiet and stable maintenance”, he added.
Noda has been somewhat bounced into the deal by Shintaro Ishihara, the outspoken right wing governor of Tokyo, who said he wanted them developed to protect Japanese sovereignty.
China has reacted with muted irritation since reports emerged that the Japanese government was going to buy the chain from their private landowners.
Japan to buy disputed islands
