TOKYO: Chinese government ships were back in waters around Japanese-controlled islands yesterday, the coastguard said, a week after they last left and days after heated exchanges at the UN General Assembly.
The four maritime surveillance ships entered the waters shortly after 12:30 pm (0330 GMT), Japan’s coastguard said in a statement, adding that it was telling the ships to leave the area.
“Patrol ships from our agency have been telling them to sail outside of our territorial waters. There has not been any response”, the Japanese agency said.
Two other Chinese official vessels were sailing near the island chain, but not in what Japan claims as its territorial waters, the coastguard also reported in a separate statement.
It was the first time in about a week that Chinese ships had entered the waters, and came after a lull in a fearsome diplomatic spat over the sovereignty of the islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
Official Chinese vessels repeatedly sailed into the archipelago’s waters until last Monday, defying warnings from Japan’s well-equipped coastguard.
AFP
