Tokyo gov defends move to buy disputed isles

JAPAN: Tokyo’s outspoken governor is defending his move to buy a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea to keep the Japanese-controlled islands from Chinese attempts to seize them.

Addressing journalists in Tokyo on Tuesday, Gov. Shintaro Ishihara claimed Beijing was threatening to take over the islands as a “front-line base”.

The islands are called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.