Japan determines to buy Diaoyu Islands

TOKYO - Japanese government officially decided to purchase China's Diaoyu Islands on a ministerial meeting Monday afternoon, reported by local media. ?

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Yuichiro Hata and Finance Minister Azumi Jun attended the meeting, Kyodo reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was not present at the meeting. He was making his campaign speech at a joint press conference with other three candidates for the upcoming presidential election inside the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).

Japanese government announced last Tuesday that the Kurihara family, who claims to own the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, has agreed to sell three of the five uninhabited islands at 2.05 billion yen ($26.15 million).

Japanese government will decide to pay the expense with government reserve funds at Tuesday's cabinet meeting and sign the official contract on the purchase with the Kurihara family.

Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Sunday and made it clear that China's position on its relations with Japan and on the Diaoyu Islands issue. ?

Hu seriously pointed out that China-Japan relations had recently faced a severe situation due to the Diaoyu Islands issue, saying whatever ways the Japanese side uses to "purchase the islands" are illegal and invalid and China firmly opposes such moves.