Two Chinese vessels entered Japan’s territorial water near the Senkaku Islands on Friday, pursuing two Japanese fishing boats in the East China Sea, Japan’s NHK World reported.
The two Chinese ships reportedly entered Friday in territorial waters off Taisho Island between 4:20 and 4:50 a.m. (local time). The ships, along with two other Chinese ships, were previously cruising in the contiguous area just outside of Japan’s territorial waters, the coast guard officials said. According to NHK World, the same Chinese ships also entered Japanese waters on Thursday.
The three Chinese ships entered the Uotsuri Island area’s territorial waters on Thursday. It appears that they were also pursuing Japanese fishing vessels.
For almost 17 hours, the ships stayed in Japanese waters. In order to protect the fishing boats and provide a warning to Chinese vessels to leave Japan’s territorial waters right away, the coast guard sent out patrol boats.
According to history and international law, the islands are inextricably linked to Japan’s territory, the Japanese government claims.
