Japan Protests Four Chinese Ships Allegedly Entering Its Territorial Waters

Japanese coast guard in the waters of the Senkaku Islands. (Wikimedia Commons/Al Jazeera English)

JAKARTA - Japan on Wednesday protested to China after four Chinese Coast Guard vessels were allegedly seen entering Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The Chinese ships, according to a top Japanese official, began entering Tokyo's territorial waters at around 10 a.m. (local time) and left them around noon.

Calling the incident "unacceptable," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said: "The latest intrusion is a violation of international law," according to his daily press conference footage, quoted from Anadolu February 12.

Hayashi vowed to respond firmly to "China's decisive action to defend Japan's territorial waters and airspace."

The latest incident, said Tokyo, marked a second intrusion into Japanese territorial waters around the islands by Chinese ships this year.

Chinese ships last infiltrated territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands on December 6, according to the Japanese Coast Guard.

"It is regrettable and unacceptable that Chinese coast guard ships enter Japanese waters around the Senkaku Islands," Hayashi was quoted as saying by Kyodo News.

"We will do our best in carrying out our warning and supervision activities and responding to China in a calm but assertive manner," he said further.

Separately, Beijing said China's Coast Guard (CCG) fleet on Wednesday patrolled the Diaoyu Dao territorial waters (China version of the name for China's Senkaku Islands).

"The patrol aims to protect China's rights and interests in accordance with the law," CCG said in a statement.

It is known that the Senkaku Islands, which are managed by Japan but claimed by China, remain the source of the dispute between the two Asian giants.