The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.
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The photos were collected and studied by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, and reported in The New York Times.
“I told him that.it is natural that Chinese ships conduct activity in the waters in question”, he told reporters.
Japanese media reports say the recent escalation in China’s activity around the disputed islands may be seen as a warning against planned visits by members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which honours war criminals among the war dead, for the August 15 anniversary to mark the end of World War II.
Beijing has built three operational runways in the disputed Fiery Cross, Mischief and Subi Reefsislands which it claims is for civilian use but in reality, military fighter and transport planes regularly operate to the islands, a report in Philstar.com said.
Kishida told Cheng that Chinese vessels’ repeated entry into Japanese territorial waters is totally unacceptable, as it violates Japan’s sovereignty and escalates tensions, the ministry said.
Some 230 Chinese fishing vessels and seven coast guard ships, including four apparently carrying weapons, sailed into waters close to the disputed island on Sunday.
As China diplomatically confronts the United States and South Korea over new missile defenses and intensifies pressure on Japan at sea over disputed islets, Beijing is signaling it is prepared to stand its ground on two key regional fronts.
Reuters reported the pictures that were put together by Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
The daily said it is puzzling that India is focusing on the South China Sea issue+ at this moment, a move which it said might risk “unnecessary side effects” to bilateral ties and potentially create obstacles for Indian exporters hoping to increase their presence in China, the world’s second largest importer.
Japan’s government said the two Chinese coastguard ships were sailing some 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of one of the Senkaku islands, known as the Diaoyus in Chinese, on Sunday morning. Poling added, “They’re reinforced to take a strike”.
He said China should withdraw its official vessels immediately.
The images are also released just days after China sent bombers and fighter jets on combat patrols in the area.
A security official in the Philippines, who requested anonymity due to lack of authority to speak with the media, said the construction of hangars is very “disturbing” since it was obviously militarizing the disputed sea.
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Such judgments were made more hard by a lack of transparency about intentions, he said, repeating a frequent US criticism of China’s secretive military.
