A Chinese marine surveillance ship sails in the East China Sea near the disputed Senkaku Islands on Sunday. (Courtesy of 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters-Japan Coast Guard.) © Kyodo
TOKYO — Chinese vessels have made several incursions since Sunday into the territorial waters surrounding the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, Japan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said early Monday.
Thirteen Chinese coast guard vessels were in the contiguous zone bordering those waters Sunday — the largest such fleet since Tokyo nationalized the islands in 2012, the Japan Coast Guard said.
Shinsuke Sugiyama, vice minister of foreign affairs, lodged a protest Sunday morning with Cheng Yonghua, China’s ambassador to Japan, after two Chinese coast guard vessels crossed into the Japanese territorial waters. The intrusions were “a violation of Japan’s sovereignty” as well as “unilateral escalations that significantly raise tensions on the ground,” Sugiyama said, according to the foreign ministry.
A second, similar complaint was lodged later in the day after one of the ships, along with a separate vessel, moved again into territorial waters. Such incursions continued through Sunday night.
Chinese activity near the islands has heated up since Friday, when a Chinese coast guard ship and fishing vessel crossed into territorial waters. Seven coast guard ships were detected in the contiguous zone Saturday, along with 230 Chinese fishing vessels in the vicinity. Another six coast guard vessels arrived Sunday, bringing the total to 13. Japan registered complaints on all three days.
China refers to the islands as Diaoyu.
(Nikkei)
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