2 China Coast Guard Ships Enter Japanese Waters Off Senkakus

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Dec. 5 (Jiji Press)--Two Chinese coast guard ships entered Japanese territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in the city of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, on Thursday.

A Japan Coast Guard patrol ship warned the two Haijing ships to leave Japanese waters after they attempted to approach a Japanese fishing vessel. It is the first time since Nov. 8 that a Chinese official ship has crossed into Japanese waters off the Senkakus in the East China Sea.

China claims the Japanese-administered islands and calls them Diaoyu.

According to the JCG's 11th regional headquarters in Naha, Okinawa's capital, the two ships entered territorial waters including at a point east-northeast of Taisho Island in the Senkaku chain around between 4:45 a.m. and 4:50 a.m.

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