Reports issued over the weekend indicate that Japan will announce a plan to buy the islands imminently:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...spute-with-china/story-e6frg6so-1226465696624
China has sent 2 patrol ships that have just reached the islands:
http://www.china.org.cn/china/2012-09/11/content_26490143.htm
I wonder how this will eventually go down.
For background information on the dispute, the Wikipedia article is a good start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senkaku_Islands_dispute
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...spute-with-china/story-e6frg6so-1226465696624
Japan's government has agreed to buy a group of islands at the centre of a territorial dispute with China, reports say - a move likely to prove a further irritant in a tense relationship.
Tokyo will pay private Japanese landowners 2.05 billion yen ($26 million) for three of the islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, the Yomiuri Shimbun and Kyodo News reported, citing unnamed government sources.
Deputy Chief Cabinet secretary Hiroyuki Nagahama met the landowners on Monday and struck the deal for the islands, which includes Uotsurijima, the largest in the chain, both said.
At a news conference Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura refused to confirm the reports, but said negotiations were under way.
"We are exchanging views with the landowners in various ways, but that process is ongoing," he said.
"We cannot comment on the contents at all. As a government, we will make a firm announcement after procedures are appropriately completed."
The Asahi Shimbun reported that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's cabinet would soon confirm the nationalisation of the islands and allocate funds for the purchase.
Mr Noda plans to formally tell the Chinese about the purchase on the sidelines of the UN assembly later this month, the Asahi said, but a Japan-China summit has not yet been set.
The government's hand has been forced on the inflammatory issue by the outspoken nationalist governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara.
Mr Ishihara, who has made a career out of provocative remarks, often with China in his sights, earlier this year took all sides by surprise when he announced his intention to buy the archipelago for the metropolitan government.
China has sent 2 patrol ships that have just reached the islands:
http://www.china.org.cn/china/2012-09/11/content_26490143.htm
Two ships of the China Marine Surveillance (CMS) have reached the waters around the Diaoyu Islands Tuesday morning to assert the country's sovereignty.
The CMS has drafted an action plan for safeguarding the sovereignty and would take actions pending the development of the situation, the CMS sources said.
I wonder how this will eventually go down.
For background information on the dispute, the Wikipedia article is a good start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senkaku_Islands_dispute