Japan protested to China as a new diplomatic row flared over a remote chain of islands, with Beijing asserting its “indisputable sovereignty” over the uninhabited territories.
Three Chinese patrol boats approached the islands claimed by Japan in the East China Sea yesterday morning, leading Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba to formally complain to his Chinese counterpart during talks in Cambodia.
Mr Gemba “strongly lodged a protest with the Chinese government with respect to the incident which took place this morning,” a foreign ministry spokesman said in Phnom Penh.
The crews of the vessels, which have since left the islands’ immediate vicinity, initially rebuffed Japanese orders to leave.
“We are conducting official duty in Chinese waters. Do not interfere. Leave China’s territorial waters,” the crews said, according to the Japanese coastguard.
The Chinese ambassador in Tokyo was summoned over the alleged violation, but the Chinese foreign ministry said it did “not accept Japanese representations over this”.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi countered to Mr Gemba that the islands – known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese – “have always been China’s territory since ancient times, over which China has indisputable sovereignty”.
The islands lie in rich fishing grounds and are thought to contain valuable mineral reserves. Tokyo recognises a private Japanese family as their owner and the city government has said it plans to buy them.