Chinese ships spotted near disputed East China Sea islets every day this year, Japan says

Relations deteriorated in 2012 when Tokyo “nationalised” some of these remote islands, and Japanese officials regularly protest against the presence of Chinese coastguard and other vessels in the surrounding waters.

On Monday, Japan’s coastguard observed four China Maritime Police Bureau vessels sailing in the “contiguous” zone adjacent to Japan’s territorial sea near the island chain.

Contiguous waters are a 12-nautical-mile band that extends beyond territorial waters.

It was the 158th consecutive day that Chinese vessels were spotted there – surpassing the previous record of 157 days in 2021, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said. That means Japan has spotted Chinese ships near the islets every day since December 21 last year.

“The government considers this series of navigations within the contiguous zone and intrusions into territorial waters an extremely serious matter,” he told reporters.

After years of negotiations, the two countries have set up a military hotline to avert unexpected clashes in the East China Sea, with the first call held a year ago.