As a condition for holding a Sino-Japanese summit amid a dispute over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, Beijing demanded after Tokyo effectively nationalized the islets last September that Japan acknowledge a territorial dispute exists and agree on a 12-nautical-mile no-entry zone around the territory, sources said Friday.
Japan rejected such demands for "shelving" the dispute over ownership of the uninhabited Japanese-controlled islets, which are claimed by China and known there as Diaoyu, according to the sources, who are involved in bilateral relations.
Tokyo's position is that the islets are historically part of Japan and thus no dispute exists over the territory, which it initially placed under its control in 1895.