China, Japan coastguard ships in another face-off near disputed Diaoyu Islands
- Chinese coastguard says Japanese vessels ‘illegally’ entered its territorial waters
- It comes two weeks after a similar confrontation over the uninhabited island chain
The island chain is claimed by China and Japan, where it is known as the Senkaku Islands.
According to the Chinese coastguard, three Japanese ships and several patrol ships “illegally” entered the territorial waters of the Diaoyus on Monday.
Chinese coastguard spokesman Gan Yu said they “took action in accordance with the law and necessary control measures”, without elaborating. “We urge Japan to immediately stop all illegal activities in the waters and ensure that similar incidents do not happen again,” he said.
Gan said the islands were China’s inherent territory and that its coastguard vessels carried out maritime rights protection and law enforcement activities in waters under the country’s jurisdiction.
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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called the coastguard’s activities a “legitimate measure to safeguard sovereignty”. “Relevant Japanese parties should stop infringement and provocation in the Diaoyu Islands waters to avoid further complicating the situation,” he said.
The Japanese coastguard, meanwhile, said its patrol boats had repeatedly urged three Chinese coastguard vessels to leave the waters.
It comes just two weeks after the last incident near the disputed islands, when coastguard ships from the two countries again faced off over “illegal” activities. Japan’s coastguard said it had manoeuvred its ships to prevent Chinese vessels from approaching Japanese fishing boats.
In September, three Chinese coastguard vessels entered the waters near the islands a day before the 50th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Tokyo lodged a protest with Beijing over the map, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno saying the Senkaku Islands were “indisputably an inherent part of Japanese territory, both historically and under international law”.
Last month, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said the US had an “ironclad” commitment to defend all of Japan, including the disputed East China Sea islands, when he met his Japanese counterpart Minoru Kihara.
