Tokyo: Two Chinese coast guard ships were seen sailing yesterday around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea just outside Japan’s territorial waters, the Japan Coast Guard said.
It was the second consecutive day that Japan had spotted Chinese government vessels around the Japan-controlled islets, which are claimed by China and Taiwan, said the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture.
Warned not to sail close to Japanese territorial waters by the Japan Coast Guard, the two Chinese ships, which briefly intruded into Japanese territorial waters near the islets along with another ship the previous day, responded that the waters are Chinese territory, according to (Kyodo) news agency.
South Korea strike ends
SEOUL: Thousands of South Korean railway workers yesterday ended a three-week partial strike after lawmakers promised to reflect their opinions in the government’s controversial plan to reorganise railway services.
More than 6,000 unionised workers of the Korea Railway (Korail) -- about one third of the firm’s entire staff -- had been on a strike since December 9 in protest at the management overhaul plan they feared would spark mass layoffs and pay cuts.
Korail union chief Kim Myung-Hwan said all striking workers including train drivers would return to work by 11:00am today.
The move came after Seoul lawmakers promised to form a parliamentary committee to ensure that the workers’ opinions would be reflected in the controversial reorganising process.
The eight-member committee was formally formed late yesterday.
Quake strikes east Indonesia
Jakarta: A shallow undersea-quake measuring 5.7 Richter scale jolted North Sulawesi in eastern parts of Indonesia on Sunday evening, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said here.
The epicentre of the quake was located at 129km southeast Bitung of North Sulawesi with the depth at 10km under sea bed, an official of the agency told China’s (Xinhua) News Agency.
Indonesia is vulnerable to seismic upheaval as it lies on the “ Pacific Ring of Fire”, an arch of volcanoes and fault lines surrounding the Pacific Ocean. Agencies
