China's Stance
China on Monday urged Japan to stop causing new troubles over the Diaoyu Islands as reports say dozens of Japanese including several lawmakers had landed on the islands. >>
China will not permit Japan to purchase the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday. >>
Here comes a new episode in Japan's farcical ambitions to "buy" the "Senkaku Islands," or China's Diaoyu Islands. This time, the Japanese government seems ready to play a leading role in the drama. >>
U.S. Interference
According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency, a senior U.S. State Department official said Monday that the Diaoyu Islands fall within the scope of Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, as the islands have been under the administrative control of the government of Japan since they were returned as part of the reversion of Okinawa in 1972. >>
Japan is trying to use a bilateral deal with the US after World War II to form the legal basis for its self-proclaimed sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands. But a private deal between Japan and the US has no bearing on China's sovereignty over the islands. >>
