China does not recognise Japan’s claim to the islands – known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – and says its ships have the right to sail freely in Chinese territorial waters.
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A Japanese navy P-3C surveillance aircraft spotted the 6,096-ton Dongdiao-class “information gathering” Chinese vessel around 3:30 am (1830 GMT Tuesday) in territorial waters near Kuchinoerabu island in southern Japan, Hiroshige Seko, a government spokesman, told reporters.
“The Chinese warship passed our territorial waters in a pattern that suggested it was following the Indian warships”, said Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani.
A senior Foreign Ministry official lodged a protest with the Chinese Embassy here over its military activities in view of latest intrusion.
The eight-day exercise has gathered 10 warships, including the 100,000-ton USA aircraft carrier John C. Stennis with F-18 fighter jets, a Japanese helicopter carrier and Indian frigates off the Japanese Okinawan islands.
Over 20 ships and 90 aircraft from India, Japan and the US are taking part in the 20th edition of Malabar exercises close to several islands claimed by China in the South and East China Sea.
USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) is 4.5 acres of sovereign United States territory capable of traveling to the furthest reaches of the globe. China said it was acting within the confines of marine law and also adhering to the principles of free navigation.
An unidentified USA official played down the “shadowing” by the Chinese observation ship, saying the Stennis had been followed by Chinese vessels in the past and the action in itself was “not provocative”.
Wednesday’s incident reinforces the notion that the East China Sea is heating up this summer, potentially drawing some attention away from the South China Sea, which has been particularly fraught due to ongoing Chinese militarization and U.S.-China standoffs over freedom of navigation patrols and other activities.
“We did not expect the ship to traverse our territorial waters”.
These developments come at a time of increased hostility over Chinese claims on islands in the South China Sea and land reclamation in support of its claims.
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The Senkakus are a group of uninhabited islets now controlled by Japan in the East China Sea.
