Tokyo looks to buy disputed islands
- 12 years ago
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said on Monday that the Japanese capital is looking to buy a handful of islets in the East China Sea.
While the group of islands is owned privately by Japanese citizens and is currently leased to the government, China also lays claim to the territories.
But Ishihara discounts Beijing's claims.
(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO GOVERNOR SHINTARO ISHIHARA, SAYING:
"China has claimed the Senkaku islands are their's -- it's an unbelievable thing to say. So Tokyo is going buy the islands. We've decided to buy them."
According to Japan's measurements, the islets are squarely within its jurisdiction.
At stake are natural gas fields in a 970 kilometre trough in the East China Sea.
Tokyo also objects to Chinese development of gas fields that overlap with Japan's claimed boundary around the islands.
Travis Brecher, Reuters
While the group of islands is owned privately by Japanese citizens and is currently leased to the government, China also lays claim to the territories.
But Ishihara discounts Beijing's claims.
(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO GOVERNOR SHINTARO ISHIHARA, SAYING:
"China has claimed the Senkaku islands are their's -- it's an unbelievable thing to say. So Tokyo is going buy the islands. We've decided to buy them."
According to Japan's measurements, the islets are squarely within its jurisdiction.
At stake are natural gas fields in a 970 kilometre trough in the East China Sea.
Tokyo also objects to Chinese development of gas fields that overlap with Japan's claimed boundary around the islands.
Travis Brecher, Reuters