Defense & Security

Chinese Ships Stay in Japanese Waters off Senkakus for 16 Hours

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Chinese national flag

Jiji Press

17:20 JST, March 19, 2023

Naha, Okinawa Pref., (Jiji Press)—Two Chinese government ships left Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, on Friday afternoon after staying there for some 16 hours.

During the intrusion, the two Haijing ships sailed close to a Japanese fishing boat. The Japanese-administered islands in the East China Sea are claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.

The Chinese ships crossed into the Japanese waters, including at a point southwest of the island of Taisho, part of the Senkaku island chain, around 4:25-4:50 a.m. Friday (7:25-7:50 p.m. Thursday GMT), according to the Japan Coast Guard’s 11th regional headquarters in Naha, the capital of Okinawa.

The ships left the waters, including at a point south of the island of Taisho, between around 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.