Two Chinese coast guard ships enter Japanese territorial waters

Tokyo, Oct 15 (EFE).- Two Chinese Coast Guard ships entered Japanese territorial waters Tuesday off the disputed Senkaku Islands, a coast guard spokesman told EFE.

It comes after a Chinese aircraft carrier approached Japanese territory during maneuvers Monday, the Japanese official said.

The Chinese ships were detected Tuesday at about 7:20am local time (22:20 GMT on Monday) off the southeastern coast of Kuba Island and Minamikojima Island, both part of the Senkaku archipelago, administered by Tokyo but claimed by China, according to authorities.

The Japanese Coast Guard issued a warning over the loudspeaker to the Chinese ships to leave Japanese territorial waters immediately and is now continuing to monitor the area, since at 9am the ships remained there.

So far this year, 35 entries of Chinese Coast Guard ships into territorial waters in this area have been confirmed, according to the Japanese spokesman.

Japan has been denouncing for years the intensification of naval maneuvers by China around the Senkaku, administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.

Beijing calls this group of uninhabited islets Diaoyu, whose sovereignty is one of the main obstacles to bilateral relations.

Tokyo also said it was concerned Tusday about the incursion of Chinese ships into the waters near Taiwan and near the island of Yonaguni, some 110 kilometers from the territory.

«The Government of Japan has confirmed that two ships, including an aircraft carrier, have sailed south of Yonaguni Island, so the Japanese (army) carried out a ‘scramble,’ mobilizing its aircraft in case of emergency,» Kazuhiko Aoki, Japanese government vice-spokesperson, said in a press conference.

These new exercises, similar to those that China carried out in May in the Taiwan Strait, are a «punishment» for the «separatist acts related to the independence» of the island according to Beijing.

China was alluding to the latest statements by Taiwanese President William Lai, who said last week on the occasion of the Taiwan’s national day that Beijing «has no right to represent» the island.

Monday’s is the fifth time China has resorted to this type of maneuver since 2022, when it carried out the first of this type in response to the visit of the then-United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan. This angered Beijing and raised tension in the region to levels not seen in decades. EFE

emg-yk/lds