TOKYO — Japan summoned Chinese diplomats Saturday to protest after six Chinese coast guard vessels approached disputed East China Sea islands accompanying a fleet of hundreds of Chinese fishing boats. ADVERTISING TOKYO — Japan summoned Chinese diplomats Saturday to protest
TOKYO — Japan summoned Chinese diplomats Saturday to protest after six Chinese coast guard vessels approached disputed East China Sea islands accompanying a fleet of hundreds of Chinese fishing boats.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it filed the protest after the Japanese coast guard spotted the vessels Saturday along with a fleet of 230 Chinese fishing boats swarming around the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands. China also claims the islands, which it calls the Diaoyu.
Japan was demanding that the ships leave the area. Three of the Chinese coast guard vessels were armed with what appeared to be gun batteries, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said.
The Chinese fleet has not intruded in Japanese territorial waters so far, it said.
Asked about Japan’s statement, China’s Foreign Ministry reiterated its position that the islands are “China’s inherent territory” and that it has “indisputable sovereignty” over them and their adjacent waters.
In a statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called on Japan to refrain from “any action that could lead to a tense or complicated situation.”
China’s increasingly assertive maritime activities in the East and South China seas have raised concerns and tensions in the region.
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