By PNA / Kyodo and U.S. News Agency / Asian

The Japanese government is in serious behind-the-scene talks with the family that owns the Senkaku Islands on its plan to bring them under state control as early as September, with a price of 2 billion yen proposed for the purchase, sources familiar with the matter said Sunday.

The islands are a major source of friction between Tokyo and Beijing, and the Japanese family has recently taken a more flexible stance on the government’s intention to buy them, the sources said.

Earlier, members of the Kurihara family said they would engage in talks regarding the ownership of the islands only with the Tokyo metropolitan government, whose governor Shintaro Ishihara in April first proposed buying Uotsuri, Kitakojima and Minamikojima islands.