Japan buys disputed land
Wednesday 12 September 2012
Printable
EmailChina reacted with anger to the long-expected purchase of disputed East China Sea islands by the Japanese government today.
Tokyo paid £16.4 million for the islands it calls Senkaku but which are known as Diaoyu in China.
It took the step after the Japanese capital's far-right Mayor Shintaro Ishihara said he'd buy them from their private owner for development - a proposal which prompted fierce protests from China and tit-for-tat flag-plantings on the islands by nationalists.
Beijing said the purchase would provoke "serious consequences," although it appeared to just be posturing.
- Philippines President Benigno Aquino III stirred up a separate island-related storm today by declaring disputed waters off the west coast the West Philippine Sea.
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