Japan has rejected protests from China and Taiwan over plans to buy islands at the centre of a territorial dispute from their private owner, saying planned purchase was aimed at “calm and stable” management of the uninhabited archipelago and nearby seas.
Yoshihiko Noda, Japan’s prime minister, said at the weekend the central government was considering buying three islands in the remote Japanese-controlled Senkaku chain, known in China as the Diaoyu and in Taiwan as the Diaoyutai.
Beijing and Taipei objected, with China’s foreign ministry saying the country would continue to take necessary measures to “resolutely defend” sovereignty over the islands, a collection of rocky outcrops in the East China Sea.