Chinese ships plied the waters of a disputed island chain yesterday, Japan’s coastguard said, as a fleet of Taiwanese fishing boats set sail for the area, vowing to stake Taipei’s claim.
The flotilla, set to arrive today, will further complicate an already high-stakes confrontation between Tokyo and Beijing, in which Japan’s Prime Minister has warned China’s behaviour could damage its own economy.
The warning came after China dealt a diplomatic snub to Japan by postponing long-planned events marking the 40th anniversary of ties, as relations between Asia’s two biggest economies plumb depths not seen for decades.
Japan’s coastguard said yesterday that two maritime surveillance ships had spent seven hours in territorial waters around Uotsurijima, the largest island in the Japanese-administered Senkaku chain, which China claims as the Diaoyus.
Two fisheries patrol boats briefly also entered the 12-nautical-mile zone around each island in the chain, the coastguard said.
The ships are not naval vessels; maritime surveillance comes under the State Oceanic Bureau, which is part of the Ministry of Land and Resources. Their roles include law enforcement in Chinese waters.
Fisheries patrol boats are under the aegis of China’s Agriculture Ministry, and are responsible for policing fishing and marine resources.
The coastguard said nine other vessels were in the area, some in contiguous waters, an area under international law that extends up to 12 nautical miles outside a territory.
Osamu Fujimura, Japan’s top government spokesman and chief Cabinet secretary, said Japan has “protested strongly” through diplomatic channels over the intrusion.
Further roiling already turbulent waters is the expected arrival today of dozens of fishing boats, which left Taiwan bound for the islands accompanied by Taiwanese coastguard.
“Diaoyutai has been our traditional fishing ground for centuries. We pledge to use our lives to protect it, or we’d disgrace our ancestors,” Chen Chun-sheng, the head of Taiwan’s Suao Fishermen’s Association said.