Asia-Pacific

Chinese govt ships sail in Japanese waters

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Foreground to background, Minami-Kojima, Kita-Kojima and Uotsuri islands of the Senkaku Islands are seen from a Yomiuri Shimbun plane on Sept. 6, 2013.

Jiji Press

17:54 JST, November 26, 2022

NAHA (Jiji Press) — Four China Coast Guard ships sailed in Japanese waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture on Friday.

Of the four, one is believed to be equipped with a 76mm gun, the largest of its kind mounted on such intruding Chinese vessels.

As one or more of the four vessels attempted to approach a 9.1-ton Japanese fishing boat with three crew members, the Japan Coast Guard secured the safety of the boat and warned the Chinese to leave the waters.

The latest event was the 26th intrusion into the Japanese waters by Chinese government ships this year and the first since Nov. 12-13.

According to the JCG’s 11th regional headquarters in Naha, two Haijing ships entered Japanese waters southeast of Minamikojima Island and elsewhere around 2:35 a.m.

The other two Haijing vessels crossed into the waters south of Taishojima Island between around 10 a.m. and 10:05 a.m.

The four vessels left the waters by around 1:15 p.m.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference in Tokyo on Friday that the intrusions “violate international law in the first place.” The Japanese government has lodged a protest with China through diplomatic channels, he added.