TokyodispatchesteamtosurveyislandsatcenterofJapan.docVIP

Tokyo dispatches team to survey islands at center of Japan, China tensions Japanese surveyors conduct an offshore survey from boats by the disputed island chain on Sunday. Tokyos governor dispatched a team Sunday to survey a set of islands in the East China Sea to which both Japan and China lay claim. Chinas state-run media immediately  HYPERLINK /english/china/2012-09/02/c_131822336.htm \t _blank declared the survey illegal. The incident is the latest in rising territorial tensions in North Asia. The uninhabited islands are known in Japan as Senkaku and in China as Diaoyu, and are privately-owned by a Japanese family.  HYPERLINK /interactive/2012/09/world/asia.island.disputes/index.html Interactive: Asias disputed islands -- who claims what? But both China and Japan separately claim them as part of their territory. The islands, located between Taiwan and Okinawa, sit among rich fishing waters and are also believed to be rich in oil resources. For now, the Japanese government leases the island from the family to peacefully and stably maintain them, as Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura  HYPERLINK http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/tyoukanpress/201208/27_a.html \t _blank said. But Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara has begun talks with the private owners and said he expects to strike a deal to buy the islands by the end of the year.  HYPERLINK Anti-Japan protests erupt in China amid island dispute In place of a weak-kneed national government that has failed to act from start to finish, Tokyo will consider how to make the most of the fertile seas and abundant nature of these islands, Ishihara  HYPERLINK http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/GOVERNOR/SPEECH/2012/fgm8d101.htm \t _blank said earlier this year. The team dispatched Sunday sailed on a ship and then rode on rubber boats to survey the shoreline. It did not set foot on the islands. Animosity has run deep between China and Japan over the islands.  HYPERLINK Islands dispute reopening old wounds in