Sino-Japanese island row turning ugly
31 Oct 2013 4:57 AM IST
Itsunori Onodera's comments are likely to further heighten fears that the two countries could be sliding towards conflict over the outcrops in the East China Sea and come on the day that China showed off its fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.
‘I believe the intrusions by China in the territorial waters around the Senkaku islands fall in the 'grey zone' (between) peacetime and an emergency situation,’ Onodera told reporters in Tokyo.
The two sides have been at loggerheads over the island chain, which China claims and calls the Diaoyus.
Tokyo bought three of them from their private Japanese owner in September 2012.
‘I believe the intrusions by China in the territorial waters around the Senkaku islands fall in the 'grey zone' (between) peacetime and an emergency situation,’ Onodera told reporters in Tokyo.
The two sides have been at loggerheads over the island chain, which China claims and calls the Diaoyus.
Tokyo bought three of them from their private Japanese owner in September 2012.
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