4 Chinese Ships Sail in Japanese Waters off Senkakus

January 5, 2020

Naha, Okinawa Pref.- Four Chinese coast guard ships sailed in Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, for about two hours on Saturday.

It was the first such intrusion this year. The last time a Chinese government ship entered Japanese waters near the islands in Ishigaki was Dec. 30, 2019.

According to the Japan Coast Guard's 11th regional headquarters in Naha, Okinawa's capital, the four Haijing ships sailed into the waters south of Taisho Island in the Senkaku chain between around 10 a.m. (1 a.m. GMT) and 10:15 a.m.

They left the waters at a point east-northeast of the same island between around 11:40 a.m. and noon.

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