BEIJING (Kyodo) — The organizer of the Nov. 25 Beijing Marathon has started accepting applications from Japanese runners, reversing its initial stance of refusing them, Kyodo News learned Sunday.

The organizer had earlier removed “Japan” from the nationalities on the application form on its official website, probably in the face of a bilateral territorial row over a group of islets, prompting the Japanese Embassy in Beijing to request it to accept Japanese runners.

The two countries have been at odds over the sovereignty of the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.