Chinese navy ship spotted in Japanese waters off Kagoshima Pref.
7:00 JST, April 28, 2022
A Chinese navy vessel was spotted in Japan’s territorial waters near islands in Kagoshima Prefecture on Tuesday, according to the Defense Ministry.
At about 8:30 p.m., a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer and a Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel spotted a Shupang-class survey ship west of Kuchinoerabu Island in Japan’s contiguous zone, which covers an area about 22 kilometers beyond territorial waters.
The ship entered Japanese territorial waters off the island at about 11 p.m. and sailed out of territorial waters south off Yakushima island at about 2:10 a.m. on Wednesday, heading southeast.
It was the fifth time the Chinese navy has entered territorial waters and was the first intrusion since November 2021.
The government conveyed its concerns to the Chinese side through diplomatic channels.
The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea allows a warship to sail through the territorial waters of another country as long as it is an “innocent passage” that does not involve hostile action. However, surveying activities are not considered to fall under this category.
The ministry has been gathering information on the purpose of the voyage.
A Shupang-class survey ship also entered Japanese territorial waters off Yakushima island in November 2021.
"Politics" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Chinese Ships Stay in Japanese Waters near Senkaku Islands for 2 Days
-
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Promotes Revised NISA Investment Program to Young People; Kishida Focusing on Moving Money From Savings to Investment in a Safe Environment
-
Japan, U.S. to Join Forces on AI, Semiconductors; Seek to Counter China’s ‘Military-Civil Fusion’
-
Japan, U.S. to Work Together for Expanding Marine Product Supply Chains; Countering China’s Economic Coercion
-
84% of People Nationwide Say They Feel Japan’s National Security Is Under Threat
JN ACCESS RANKING
- Japan Lags in Efforts to Gain Value from Human Resources; Govt Working to Increase Usage
- M6.0 Earthquake Hits Japan’s Tohoku Region; Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi Prefectures Observe 4 on Japanese Scale With No Risk of Tsunami
- Cherry Blossoms Draw Crowd to Tokyo’s Ueno Park; Viewing Season Kicks Off to Slow Start
- Shohei Ohtani’s Former Interpreter Ippei Mizuhara Appears in School Textbook; Publisher Considers Replacing Content
- Shinkansen Services Suspended After Man ‘Searches for Phone’ on Tracks; Disruption Affects About 14,000 Passengers