Japan has reportedly lodged a new protest with China after spotting six Chinese coastguard ships, along with a fleet of almost 230 fishing vessels that approached its territory in the disputed waters in East China Sea.
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Japan’s new defense minister Tomomi Inada hassingled out China and North Korea for using force to settle longstanding territorial disputes. Beijing has refused to recognize the ruling.
Seoul’s Foreign Ministry also summoned an official from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, lodging an official protest against the annual white paper.
Beijing claims the uninhabited, Tokyo-controlled East China Sea islands, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, and occasionally sends its coastguard vessels close to them.
Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama told Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua the coast guard vessels’ entry into territorial waters around the Senkakus and activities there are a violation of Japan’s sovereignty and totally unacceptable, the ministry said.
After catching sight of the coastguard ships in the contiguous waters at 8:05 am (2305 GMT, Friday), the Japanese foreign ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau lodged a strong protest with the Chinese embassy in Tokyo, it said.
On Friday, a Japanese foreign ministry official said Chinese coastguard ships and fishing vessels had entered what Tokyo considers its territorial waters around the islets.
Wang said that by doing so, Japan wants to strengthen its military clout in the region, yet that would further complicate the security situation in the area.
The Chinese Defense Ministry has denounced comments made by new Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, who denied any “killing contest” in Nanjing during WWII.
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Wang said Japan, by stirring up China’s maritime disputes with other countries in the South China Sea, is trying to team up with those claimant countries against China.
