China resolutely safeguards sovereignty: FM

BEIJING - Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Monday urgently summoned Japanese Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa for a meeting to lodge solemn representations and strong protest against the Japanese government's illegal "buying" of the Diaoyu Islands.

Yang said that the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islets have been inherent territory of China since ancient times, backed by historical and legal evidence. The Japanese government's so-called "purchase" of the islands and other unilateral actions are illegal and invalid.

The Japanese actions can not change the historical facts of Japan's occupation of Chinese territory, as well as China's territorial sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands, according to Yang, who stressed that the Chinese government and people will resolutely safeguard their territorial sovereignty.

China urges Japan to immediately revoke its wrong decision to "buy" the Diaoyu Islands and stop all actions that undermine China's territorial sovereignty. Otherwise, all consequences should be borne only by the Japanese side, according to Yang.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement on Monday after the Japanese government decided to "buy" part of China's Diaoyu Islands at a ministerial meeting.

In accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on Its Territorial Seas and Adjacent Zones adopted and promulgated on February 25, 1992, the Chinese government also announced the base points and baselines of the territorial waters of Diaoyu Islands.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said that the Chinese government's action is consistent with the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Chinese ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua also submitted a protest note to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.