BEIJING - A Chinese spokesman on Monday urged the Wall Street Journal to be impartial on the Diaoyu Islands dispute after the US newspaper carried an article pushing the United States to endorse Japan's claims explicitly.

The online article, dated October 31, alleged that along with the tensions over the Diaoyu Islands (called the Senkaku Islands by the Japanese side), Tokyo's alliance with Washington and its ties with Southeast Asia have been strengthened.

"The more explicit the Obama Administration is that the Senkakus are Japanese, the likelier Beijing is to back down," said the article.

"We have noticed the relevant article," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily news briefing on Monday afternoon.

Hong reiterated that the Diaoyu Islands are an inherent part of the Chinese territory, and relevant documents signed at the end of the Second World War have stated that they should be returned to China.

The underhanded exchange of the Diaoyu Islands between Japan and the United States in the 1970s was illegal and invalid, and cannot change the fact that the islands belong to China, said the spokesman.

Hong said the tensions over the Diaoyu Islands were caused by the Japanese side, which has attempted to change the status quo, rather than the Chinese side.

The United States is not a party concerned in the Diaoyu Islands dispute and it should stay neutral in the dispute, he said.

"We have noticed that the US government has repeatedly reiterated that it will not take sides on the sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands," said the spokesman.

"We hope that the relevant media will hold an objective and impartial stance, and play a more constructive role in easing tensions and resolving the dispute," he added.