Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said on Monday that the Japanese capital is looking to buy a handful of islets in the East China Sea.<br/> <br />While the group of islands is owned privately by Japanese citizens and is currently leased to the government, China also lays claim to the territories.<br/> <br />But Ishihara discounts Beijing's claims.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO GOVERNOR SHINTARO ISHIHARA, SAYING:<br/> <br />"China has claimed the Senkaku islands are their's -- it's an unbelievable thing to say. So Tokyo is going buy the islands. We've decided to buy them."<br/> <br />According to Japan's measurements, the islets are squarely within its jurisdiction.<br/> <br />At stake are natural gas fields in a 970 kilometre trough in the East China Sea.<br/> <br />Tokyo also objects to Chinese development of gas fields that overlap with Japan's claimed boundary around the islands.<br/> <br />Travis Brecher, Reuters
