Japanese citizens have responded to an appeal from the Tokyo governor for help to buy uninhabited islands at the centre of a bitter territorial dispute with China by donating Y76m in just five days.
The contributions began pouring in after Shintaro Ishihara, the rightwing Tokyo governor, created an account to help fund his proposed purchase of three of the Senkaku islands, known in China as the Diaoyu, according to municipal officials.
Mr Ishihara’s plan to buy the islands from their private owner threatens to further inflame what has long been one of the region’s most sensitive flashpoints. A clash between a Chinese fishing boat and Japanese coastguard vessels in the area in 2010 disrupted diplomatic and economic exchanges for months.
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