Two Chinese Coast Guard ships have been sailing in Japanese waters near a chain of disputed islands for more than 64 hours this week, Japanese authorities said on Friday, the longest invasion of its kind in a decade.
Japan’s Coast Guard said Friday that Chinese ships entered Japanese waters in the East China Sea in the early hours of Tuesday and remained to observe a Japanese fishing boat operating in the area before leaving on Thursday night.
At one point on Thursday, one of the Chinese ships approached 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, known in China as the Diaoyu Islands, well above the internationally recognized 12-mile (19.3 kilometers) limit, which determines the territorial waters of the country, according to the coast guard.
The Japanese Coast Guard sent its patrol ships to the area and demanded that Chinese ships leave Japan’s territorial waters immediately, the statement said.
Such invasions are not uncommon in the disputed area. Both Tokyo and Beijing claim the uninhabited islands as their own, but Japan has ruled them since 1972. Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a Chinese province, also claims ownership of the islands.
Tensions around the rock chain, 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo, have been simmering for generations, with claims dating back hundreds of years.
Chinese officials have repeatedly argued that China has an inherent right to patrol the waters around the islands. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and the Ministry of National Defense did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the statement of the Japanese Coast Guard on Friday.
The latest invasion marks the longest period of time Chinese government ships have spent in the waters since 2012, after Tokyo bought some of the islands from a privately owned Japanese owner, Japan’s coast guard said.
Previously, the longest invasion was in October 2020, when a Chinese ship remained for more than 57 hours.
The latter comes amid growing friction between the two neighbors, especially as China looks cautiously at Japan’s relations with the United States.
Last month, Tokyo hosted a summit for the increasingly active security group Quad, made up of Japan, the United States, Australia and India. Beijing sees the group as part of an American effort to control it.
Hours after the summit, the Chinese and Russian air forces conducted joint strategic air patrols over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the western Pacific, what the Chinese Defense Ministry called part of an annual military co-operation plan.
Earlier this week, Japan’s defense ministry said it had spotted at least two Chinese warships and a delivery ship on the Izu Islands, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Tokyo. One of these ships appears to be Lhasa, a Type 055 guided missile destroyer and one of the most powerful surface ships in China.
The ministry said the group had been operating in waters near Japan since June 12.
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