Plan to buy islands 'unacceptable'

Beijing has reiterated China's sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands on Tuesday, following the governor of Tokyo's sudden announcement of a plan to buy part of the islands.

Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo's governor, said in Washington on Monday that his city prefecture is negotiating with the so-called "owner" of the islands, with the aim of "buying them by the end of this year", Kyodo News Agency reported.

Ishihara said in a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation that he had begun negotiations to purchase three islets of the Diaoyu Islands, which Ishihara claimed are "owned by a Japanese family".