Japan's central authorities have turned down the Tokyo metropolitan government's application to land on the Diaoyu Islands, in an apparent bid to defuse tensions with China.

The Japanese government does not allow any of its citizens to land on the islands in order to maintain the stability of the area, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying on Monday. 

In response, the Tokyo metropolitan government said it will continue to survey the surrounding waters of the Diaoyu Islands without landing on them, as a necessary step toward buying the islands.

The amount of money raised to purchase the islands has reached 2 billion yen ($25.41 million).

Another survey of the Diaoyu Islands will reportedly be held in October.  Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara will take part in the survey as an effort to purchase and nationalize three of the five uninhabited islands, an action that sparked widespread outrage in China.

Despite the latest move, Japan's Self-Defense Forces have started to provide technical support to the defense ministries of six countries surrounding China in an effort to contain China's military power, reports said.

Indonesia, Vietnam, East Timor, Cambodia, Mongolia and Tonga will receive "non-battling" military support from Japan, including mine clearance and health aid, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on Sunday.

The newspaper said that with China's increasing military capability, this project is aimed at strengthening Japan's ties with China's neighboring countries.

Current Japanese law forbids Japan's Ministry of Defense from directly offering financial aid or goods to foreign military forces. The support will be provided "legally" by the Japanese government in the form of consulting.

Yu Zhirong, a researcher from the Shanghai Japan Studies Center, said Japan is using diplomatic means to gain supporters in Asia, a method Japan has adopted before. "It may be more difficult for China to hold Japan accountable from a legal perspective," said Yu.

Liu Gang, a professor at Okinawa University in Japan said, "Cooperation plans like this usually come with a quiet nod from the US."

Japan is the US's biggest ally in Asia and rests at the core of the US strategy of its pivot toward the region, he said.