Japanese government signs purchase contract for three of the five Senanku Islands; China makes largest-ever intrusion into the waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands
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    • The Japanese government, on September 11, signed the purchase contract for the three of the five Senkaku islands with their private owner. The government took this step to ensure their stable management over the long-term and enhance Japanese control over them. The government reportedly spent 2.05 billion yen for that purchase. China’ who claims sovereignty over those islands, reacted strongly to this move and sent marine surveillance ships to waters near the Senakus. 1 However, just ahead of the purchase, on the sidelines of the APEC Summit held in Vladivostok recently, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Chinese President Hu Jintao met each other on September 9 and both called for a calm response to the countries’ territorial dispute. 2

    Recently, six Chinese surveillance ships entered Japanese territorial waters surrounding the Senakau islands in the East China Sea region. The Japanese Coast guard claimed that it was by far the largest intrusion by China. This act seemed to be largely a retaliatory measure from Beijing against the nationalization of the three Senkaku islands by the Japanese government recently. However, while reacting sharply to the Chinese act, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan Osamu Fujimura declared that it was ‘strongly regrettable’. 3

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