The Japanese government has turned down a request from Japanese lawmakers to hold a memorial service on the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

Japanese media report that an alliance of Japan’s right-wing lawmakers asked the government earlier this month to approve a visit to Senkaku so they could hold a memorial service for people who died when a ship sank near the islands during World War Two.

The Japanese government denied approval but will review a separate request for a visit soon to be submitted by the Tokyo metropolitan government.

The Senkaku Islands known as the Diaoyu Islands in Chinese is also claimed by China.