Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who recently made the surprise announcement that the metropolitan government hopes to buy three of the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, wants a meeting with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Tuesday.
Fujimura told reporters that Ishihara wants to further pitch the joint civilian-military use of the U.S. Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo. But the two in fact are widely expected to exchange views on the governor's plan for the metro government to buy three of the five main islands in the East China Sea islet chain that China and Taiwan also claim, political sources said.
Ishihara, an outspoken hawk, said in a speech in Washington last week that Tokyo is negotiating with the Saitama titleholder of three of the Japan-controlled islets to buy them by year's end. His comments took the central government by surprise and drew protests from China.
Ishihara has also called for joint military-civilian use of the U.S. Yokota Air Base as a third metropolitan-area hub airport.
If the meeting takes place, Ishihara is likely to urge Noda, who is scheduled to visit Washington to hold talks with U.S. President Barack Obama late this month, to make further efforts to move ahead with the base issue.