“The situation surrounding the Japan-China relationship is significantly deteriorating”, Mr Kishida told Cheng Yonghua, Beijing’s envoy to Tokyo, according to a statement on the foreign ministry website.
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Their confirmed presence in the South China Sea quashes China’s repeated claims it was never planning to militarise the region.
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The flurry of Chinese activity in the disputed waters follows a period of sustained pressure on China about its activities in the South China Sea, and Chinese criticism of what it saw as Japanese interference in that dispute.
The Chinese diplomat said after the meeting that he had told Kishida the islands, which are controlled by Japan, were an integral part of China’s territory and the dispute should be resolved through dialogue.
Hundreds of Chinese fishing boats have also been seen accompanying the coast guard vessels, just as a fishing season in the East China Sea opens.
Japan protested in June after it said a Chinese navy frigate sailed close to territorial waters near the islands for the first time.
THAAD’s location was announced a day after The Hague court ruled against China’s claims in sea, through which some $5 trillion of cargo passes annually.
In 2012, China seized the Scarborough Shoal, denying Philippine fishermen access to a rich fishing ground, and prompting Manila to file the arbitration case. China claims and calls the islets Diaoyu.
The images, dating to the end of July, show that the hangars are large enough to house any fighter jet used by the Chinese air force, says CSIS, although such aircraft has not been spotted at the sites-yet.
Gregory B. Poling of the Center’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative noted the Chinese hangars are “far thicker than you would build for any civilian goal”, as they have been “reinforced to take a strike”.
Poling said the appearance of the reinforced hangers was not surprising since they’re sitting at the end of runways larger than any non-military goal would require.
He said some of them were retired from their government but they could help influence China’s leaders. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have claims in the area, overlapping areas claimed by China.
The only contact he named was Wu Shicun, president of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies.
This is a weekly look at the latest key developments in the South China Sea, home to several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region.
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“China does not intend to pursue militarization”, Xi said, referring to the area as the Nansha Islands, a Chinese name for what most of the rest of the world calls the Spratlys in the South China Sea.
