China warship off disputed islands, Japan protests to China

TOKYO – Japan summoned China’s ambassador to deliver a protest Thursday after spotting a Chinese warship for the first time near disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Japanese officials said a Chinese navy frigate was seen off the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, also claimed by China, which calls them the Diaoyu islands. The ship did not violate Japan’s territorial waters, and has since left the area.

While Chinese coast guard vessels routinely patrol the area, it was the first time a Chinese warship was spotted, officials said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki summoned Chinese Ambassador Cheng Yonghua to the ministry to deliver the protest.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also criticized Beijing for escalating regional tensions.

“Japan is extremely concerned about the action that unilaterally escalates tension in the area,” Suga said.

The territorial dispute often harms bilateral relations, already troubled by the two countries’ wartime history.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry and coast guard say Chinese coast guard ships have been in and out of a narrow strip just outside Japanese waters almost every day since Japan nationalized the islands in 2012, and have violated Japan’s territorial waters a few times every month. In December, an armed Chinese coast guard vessel was spotted for the first time in the area.

Japan is also investigating the presence of three Russian warships in the area at about the same time. Suga said officials are analyzing whether the two incidents were co-ordinated.

Defence Minister Gen Nakatani, in Singapore to attend an annual international security conference, told public NHK television that Beijing’s dispatch of a naval ship may just be its way of stressing its resolve over its territorial claims amid widening international concern over its activities in the South China Sea.

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