SALON

Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 8:15 AM UTC

China confronts Japan ships near disputed islands

By

Topics: From the Wires,

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese patrol boats confronted Japanese vessels near a disputed East China Sea archipelago early Tuesday, the latest in a series of such encounters following Tokyo’s nationalization of the islands last month.

Four ships from China Marine Surveillance entered waters near the islands at 10 a.m. (0200 GMT), according to a statement from the State Oceanic Administration that commands the service. The ships conducted surveillance on the on Japanese Coast Guard vessels in the area, “sternly expressed” China’s sovereignty claim over the islands and “carried out expulsion measures,” the administration said.

Japanese Coast Guard spokesman Yuji Kito said ships from both countries flashed signs saying they were in their own territorial waters and demanding the other side leave.

“The Chinese flashed the signs in Chinese and Japanese,” said Kito, speaking by phone from Coast Guard headquarters in Okinawa, which has jurisdiction over the islands. “They have done this before and so have we.” He said the situation was not more intense than previous encounters.

The uninhabited islets, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are also claimed by Taiwan.

China has launched increasingly frequent patrols around the islands since angrily protesting the Japanese government’s decision to purchase them from their private owners. Chinese ships have at times entered the 22-kilometer (12-nautical mile) zone that Tokyo considers its territorial waters near the islands and Chinese aircraft have also stepped up activity around them.

Tokyo’s nationalization sparked violent protests in dozens of Chinese cities and sent relations nose diving, with trade ties among the worst to suffer.

China has demanded Tokyo acknowledge the sovereignty dispute, and the sides have held low-key talks aimed at reducing tensions.

Japan needs to “face up to the current reality, recognize the controversy, correct their mistakes and negotiate,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regularly scheduled news conference Tuesday. “We hope Japan can show real sincerity and action to make efforts in solving the current issue.”

___

Associated Press writer Eric Talmadge in Tokyo contributed to this report.

More Christopher Bodeen.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Oklahoma senator: Tornado aid “totally different” from Sandy aid
3078 points3079 points | 2454 comments
vote
Anyone Regret Slashing National Weather Service Budget Now?: With GOP-backed cuts to forecasting agency, experts warn future storms will go undetected and more lives lost
1050 points1051 points | 567 comments
vote
Oklahoma senator wants to offset tornado aid with other cuts
155 points156 points | 61 comments
vote
New campaign compares gun control to anti-LGBT discrimination
34 points35 points | 11 comments
vote
Horrifying new trend: Posting rapes to Facebook " In Chicago this weekend, prosecutors announced three teenaged boys will tried as adults for aggravated criminal sexual assault after allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl — and posting a video of the attack on Facebook."
33 points34 points | 15 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations