NHK英字ニュース（Tokyo negotiating purchase of Senkaku Islands）

Tokyo negotiating purchase of Senkaku Islands


The governor of Tokyo says metropolitan government officials are negotiating the purchase of a disputed group of privately owned islands in the East China Sea.

In a lecture at a US think tank in Washington on Monday, Shintaro Ishihara said that Chinese government ships are patrolling the waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands and that the country is becoming increasingly strident in its territorial claim to the islands. He said it is outrageous for China to be vowing to breach Japan's effective control over the islands and that the islands are at risk.

Ishihara said it should be the central government that is actually buying the islands, but that the Foreign Ministry is afraid of angering China, which is why the Tokyo metropolitan government has stepped forward to protect Japan's claim.

After the lecture, the governor told reporters that the proposal will be brought before the metropolitan assembly with the aim of concluding the purchase by the end of the year.

Ishihara did not disclose how much the islands would cost, but said that he would like to discuss their future use with Okinawa prefecture, where the islands are located.

A number of senior metropolitan government officials have expressed surprise at the governor's announcement. They said all they can do is wait for the governor to return to receive specific instructions about what they should do.

｢単語｣
strident；耳障りな
outrageous；法外な
breach；違反、侵害

｢一言」
尖閣諸島って、個人所有の島なんですね。びっくりです。
どうやって無人島を所有するのか不思議です。
そういえば、富士山も個人（団体）所有だと聞いたことあります。
東京都が購入するということは、公有地になるということでしょうか。
じっくり解説してもらいたい記事です。