TOKYO, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- A survey group organized by Tokyo metropolitan government departed from Ishigaki port, Okinawa, at Saturday night and headed to the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, local media reported.
The group is expected to arrive at the islands at 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning and return to Ishigaki at night, according to media reports.
Tokyo metropolitan government said it plans to study the natural environment of the Diaoyu Islands because it's a necessary step for buying the islands.
The investigation group comprises a total of 25 people, including officials from Tokyo and Ishigaki government, estate valuers and a university professor.
Tokyo government earlier sent a landing application, but was rejected by the central government Monday for security reasons.
Tokyo is also preparing to hold another survey on the Diaoyu Islands in October in which the governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara will take part.
Ishihara has announced in April that the Tokyo government plans to purchase three of the five uninhabited islands.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. foreign policy expert said here that he believed the U.S. government's position on the Diaoyu islands is "contradictory."
"Because the only way that the U.S.-Japan defense treaty should apply to those islands is if the United States regards them as Japanese territory," Ted Carpenter, senior fellow for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, told Xinhua in a recent interview. Full story
TOKYO, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Japanese central government rejected Tokyo metropolitan government's application of landing on Diaoyu Islands Monday, said Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura on a press conference.
Fujimura said central government does not allow any citizen landing on Diaoyu Islands in order to maintain the stability of the area, so the government rejected Tokyo's request following the consistent principle. Full story
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