Japan’s coast guard says expelled Chinese ships near disputed islands

Japan’s coast guard was deployed to ensure the safety of a Japanese fishing vessel in the area. (EPA Images pic)

TOKYO: Japan’s coast guard said Tuesday it had expelled two Chinese ships from waters near disputed islands also claimed by Beijing.

The Chinese ships were approaching a Japanese fishing vessel that was operating in the area, the Japanese agency said.

The two countries have a long-running territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, which lie between Taiwan and Japan’s Okinawa.

They have figured for decades into bilateral tensions, which have worsened since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made comments about Taiwan in November that angered Beijing.

The coast guard “issued orders to leave… successfully forcing the Chinese coast guard vessels to leave Japanese territorial waters by approximately 9.20 am today,” it said in a statement.

In addition the coast guard “was deployed around the Japanese fishing vessel to ensure its safety”.

There were four Chinese ships sailing around the area, before two of them entered the Japanese waters, the Japanese side said.

The statement said that the activities of the Chinese coast guard vessels constituted “a violation of international law”.

“The Japan Coast Guard will continue to respond calmly and resolutely in accordance with international and domestic law, and will take every possible measure to ensure the security of our territorial waters,” it added.