China Ships Continue Intrusions despite Kishida's Protest

Tokyo, Aug. 9 (Jiji Press)--Chinese government ships continued to enter Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture on Tuesday, even after Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida lodged a strong protest to China the same day. After Chinese government ships were spotted in the waters, Kishida summoned Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua on Tuesday morning and said that Japan adamantly rejects unilateral actions by China that raise tensions near the East China Sea islands. Kishida also stated that he cannot help but say the situation surrounding the Japan-China relationship "is worsening markedly." To turn things around, China needs to improve the situation in a way that is clear to everyone, Kishida stressed, demanding that China immediately withdraw its ships from waters around the islands, which are claimed by the country. Japan raised its objection to the ministerial level after China defied protests lodged by Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama recently. Speaking to reporters after the meeting with Kishida, Cheng reiterated his country's position that the islets, called Diaoyu in China, are Chinese territory. The envoy also said that efforts should be made through diplomatic channels to prevent the situation from becoming further complicated or larger in scale. Chinese government ships were spotted in the Japanese territorial waters around the islands for the third straight day through Tuesday. According to the Japan Coast Guard's 11th regional headquarters in Naha, the capital of Okinawa, one Chinese government ship crossed into the territorial waters only about 90 minutes after Kishida's protest. On Tuesday afternoon, up to 12 Chinese government ships sailed in the contiguous zone surrounding the Japanese waters around the islands and four of them intruded into the territorial waters. China is apparently escalating its provocation as Japan has been calling on the international community to pressure Beijing to abide by a recent international tribunal ruling that rejected China's claims in the South China Sea over its territorial dispute with the Philippines, informed sources said. As the number of Chinese government ships sailing around the Senkaku Islands has surged, a Japanese government official said that the situation is serious. Japan, which is set to host a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting with China and South Korea late this month, is hoping to improve the situation as early as possible to prevent the maritime tensions from affecting the gathering. But a senior official of the Japanese Foreign Ministry said that the situation is not so easy. Also on Tuesday, the Japan Coast Guard and the Foreign Ministry posted on their websites pictures of three types of Chinese government ships spotted recently in the territorial waters and the contiguous zone--the Haijing, the Haijian and the Yuzheng--and their activities in the areas since Friday. The Japanese government expects that China will increase the number of large government ships to 135 by 2019. END