Japan protests as China ships sail near disputed isles

FILE – In this Oct. 13, 2011 file photo, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C Orion surveillance plane flies over the disputed islands, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea. Japan says it will give names to five uninhabited islands as part of a group in the East China Sea, Friday Aug. 1, 2014, a move likely to spark anger from other claimants China and Taiwan. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, File) JAPAN OUT, CREDIT MANDATORY

Tokyo protested to Beijing Sunday after Chinese coast guard ships sailed into territorial waters surrounding disputed islands in the East China Sea, Japan said.

Four Chinese vessels entered the waters surrounding islets, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, around 10:00 a.m. local time, according to Japan Coast Guard.

They left the territorial waters within an hour, the coast guard said.

The two countries are locked in a long-running dispute over the uninhabited islets.

Tokyo has lodged at least 32 protests through diplomatic channels since August 5 over what it says have been about 30 intrusions by Chinese vessels in the territorial waters.

The director general of the Japanese foreign ministry’s Asian and Oceanian affairs bureau, Kenji Kanasugi, issued a protest Sunday to the Chinese embassy in Tokyo, saying that the ships’ “incursion” violated Japan’s sovereignty, the ministry said in a statement.

“Despite Japan’s repeated strong protests, the Chinese side has continued to take unilateral actions that raise tensions on the ground, and that is absolutely unacceptable,” the statement added.

China is also involved in maritime disputes in the South China Sea with countries including the Philippines, but a UN-backed tribunal has ruled that Beijing’s claims were invalid./rga

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