JAPAN: Tokyo's metropolitan government dispatches survey ship to look into buying disputed islands between Japan and China

Record ID: 466686

  • Title: JAPAN: Tokyo's metropolitan government dispatches survey ship to look into buying disputed islands between Japan and China
  • Date: 1st September 2012
  • Summary: ISHIGAKI, OKINAWA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 1, 2012) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ***NIGHT VIEWS*** MEMBERS OF TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT TEAM WALKING TOWARDS SURVEY SHIP VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT TEAM BOARDING SURVEY SHIP GOVERNMENT SURVEY TEAM LEADER SEIICHIRO SAKAMAKI AND TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT SPECIAL ADVISOR YOSHIHIKO YAMADA WALKING UP TO NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO GOVERNMENT SURVEY TEAM LEADER SEIICHIRO SAKAMAKI SAYING: "Unfortunately we weren't able to get permission to land from the national government, but we hope to get as close as possible and investigate as finely as possible." SAKAMAKI AND YAMADA TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO GOVERNMENT SURVEY TEAM LEADER SEIICHIRO SAKAMAKI SAYING: "As we will be going as a proper investigative team, we intend to calmly and peacefully carry out our survey. And we are not planning on trying to land on the islands." MEDIA FILMING AS SHIP PULLS AWAY FROM DOCK TOKYO METROPOLITAN STAFF WAVING AS SHIP PULLS AWAY FROM DOCK YAMADA WAVING AS SHIP PULLS AWAY FROM DOCK VARIOUS OF SHIP STAFF CHECKING BOATS
  • Embargoed: 16th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEATC4JQVIF8DYQOXXW00Z4L11
  • Story Text: The city government of Tokyo sent a ship to survey a group of disputed islands between Japan and China on Saturday (September 1), as it considers possibly buying them.
    The uninhabited islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China have long been a source of friction between Tokyo and Beijing and competing territorial claims to the islets and surrounding fishing areas and potentially rich gas deposits.
    Last month, a landing on the island by Chinese activists and their detention by Japan's coast guard sparked outrage and a few days later a group of Japanese nationalists landed on the island in a tit-for-tat for move.
    In April, Tokyo's Governor Shintaro Ishihara kick-started a campaign to purchase four of the archipelago's five islands that are under private ownership.
    Currently they are owned by an individual and under lease to the government.
    The Tokyo city government has rented a nearly 2,500 ton survey vessel to take 25 experts around the islands to determine how they could be used if bought.
    The team will survey environmental habitats and wildlife, as well as potential property values.
    The national government however turned down Tokyo's request last month to actually land on the islands.
    "Unfortunately we weren't able to get permission to land from the national government, but we hope to get as close as possible and investigate as finely as possible," explained team leader Seiichiro Sakamkai.
    With the recent spike in tensions between Japan and China, Sakamaki insisted the current trip would be nothing more than a survey.
    "As we will be going as a proper investigative team, we intend to calmly and peacefully carry out our survey. And we are not planning on trying to land on the islands," Sakamaki said.
    The renewed maritime tension with China has parallels with Beijing's recent tangles with Southeast Asian countries over rival territorial claims in the South China Sea.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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