Four Chinese government ships sailed into the territorial waters of disputed Tokyo-controlled islands in the East China Sea on Sunday, Japan's coastguard said.
The maritime surveillance vessels entered the 12-nautical-mile zone around Uotsurijima, the main islet in the disputed chain called the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China at about noon (0300 GMT).
Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Chikao Kawai ‘strongly protested to the Chinese ambassador Cheng Yonghua about the Chinese ships' intrusion into Japan's territorial waters, and the growing frequency of such moves’ by telephone, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said in a statement.
Kawai said the ‘repeated provocative action’ would undermine communication between the countries. The Chinese envoy repeated Beijing's own view on the issue but added he was seeking to resolve the dispute through dialogue, it said.
Chinese vessels have moved in and out of what Japan says is its sovereign territory over the past two months.
The maritime surveillance vessels entered the 12-nautical-mile zone around Uotsurijima, the main islet in the disputed chain called the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China at about noon (0300 GMT).
Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Chikao Kawai ‘strongly protested to the Chinese ambassador Cheng Yonghua about the Chinese ships' intrusion into Japan's territorial waters, and the growing frequency of such moves’ by telephone, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said in a statement.
Kawai said the ‘repeated provocative action’ would undermine communication between the countries. The Chinese envoy repeated Beijing's own view on the issue but added he was seeking to resolve the dispute through dialogue, it said.
Chinese vessels have moved in and out of what Japan says is its sovereign territory over the past two months.