Japanese authorities on Friday said that two Chinese Coast Guard ships violated Japan’s territorial waters near a chain of disputed islands. Japan says the two ships were in its waters for more than 64 hours this week which makes it the longest territorial incursion by China in a decade.
According to the Japanese Coast Guard, the Chinese ships entered the East China Sea into Japanese waters and stayed there to survey a Japanese fishing vessel which was in the area. They left the area on Thursday evening.
It was reported that during one point the Chinese vessels came within 1.9 miles of Japan’s Senkaku Islands (China calls them Diaoyu islands). The Chinese ships were well inside as the internationally recognized 12-mile limit is the norm to define any country’s territorial waters.
In retaliation, Japanese Coast Guard dispatched their own ships and warned the Chinese to leave.
As the area is disputed and both nations lay claim to it, incursions are not uncommon. The uninhabited Senkaku Islands are claimed by both China and Japan, but Japan has administered them since 1972. Taiwan also claims the islands, but is in turn considered a province by the Chinese.
According to the CNN, in response to a request for comment on the Japanese coast guard’s statement, China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday said the “Diaoyu Islands are part of Chinese territory” and accused Japanese fishing boats of making “repeated intrusions” into the area.
“This has seriously violated China’s sovereignty. Chinese coast guard ships launching on-site law enforcement activities against the right-wing Japanese fishing boats is a justifiable act protecting our sovereignty. Japan has no right to make groundless remarks, let alone to interfere and obstruct,” it said.
Earlier this week it was reported that the Japanese had spotted one of China’s premier surface combatant vessels – ‘Lhasa’ which is a Type 055 guided-missile destroyer and two other vessels, about 310 miles south of Tokyo. The group has purportedly been operating in the area since June 12, 2022.
