Japanese government offers to buy Senkaku Islands

Sources said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government has offered the owner of the Senkaku Islands about 2 billion yen to buy the islands, but he has no intention of accepting the government's offer as he wants to negotiate with Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara.

The owner said “I don’t want to embarrass Mr. Ishihara,” making it even more difficult to determine whether Prime Minister Noda’s government could pave the way for nationalization of the Senkaku Islands.

Senkaku Islands. (Source: AP)

Earlier this month, the Japanese government asked the owner to enter into negotiations with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Nagahama on the issue, but was rebuffed. After a few days, the government told the owner of the Senkaku Islands that it was willing to buy three of the five islands for “nearly 2 billion yen.”

The Japanese government plans to nationalize the largest island of Uotsuri, Kitakojima and Minamikojima from the above owner. Meanwhile, the Tokyo government has raised 1.39 billion yen to buy these three islands.

The Japanese government apparently intended to persuade the owner to change his mind about transferring ownership to the Tokyo government by offering a higher purchase price than the Tokyo government was prepared to pay.

The Senkaku Islands are controlled by Japan, but are also claimed by China and Taiwan. Japan-China relations over the Senkaku Islands have recently become more tense with the increasing presence of Chinese patrol vessels in the waters around the islands./.

According to (Vietnam+) - DT