TOKYO (AP) — Media reports say the Japanese government has agreed to buy several privately owned islands in the East China Sea that are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China. The government has agreed to buy three of the five main islands, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, from the Kurihara family for 2.05 billion yen ($26 million), Kyodo News agency and the Yomiuri and Asahi newspapers reported Wednesday. Tensions over the islands have flared after Tokyo's nationalist governor, Shintaro Ishihara, said the city government would raise money to buy the islands so that they would not be vulnerable to purchase by an outside third party, such as China. Japanese...
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