Chinese Govt Ships Re-Enter Japanese Waters off Senkakus

Naha, Okinawa Pref., March 17 (Jiji Press)--Two Chinese government ships intruded into Japanese waters off the Senkaku Islands in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa early on Friday, hours after leaving the area.

On Thursday, four Chinese coast guard ships entered Japanese territorial waters in the morning and left between 11:20 p.m. (2:20 p.m. GMT) and 11:35 p.m.

On Friday, two of the Haijing vessels re-entered Japanese waters from locations including southwest of the island of Taisho, part of the Senkaku island chain, between around 4:25 a.m. and 4:50 a.m.

Japan Coast Guard ships are patrolling the area to prevent the Chinese vessels from approaching Japanese fishing boats operating there.

The Japanese-administered islands in the East China Sea are claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]