4 Chinese Ships Sail in Japanese Waters near Senkakus

Naha, Okinawa Pref., May 8 (Jiji Press)--Four Chinese coast guard ships sailed in Japanese waters off the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, Wednesday.

It was the 14th intrusion of Chinese official ships into waters around the Japanese-administered Senkaku chain this year. The previous such incident took place April 27.

According to the Japan Coast Guard's 11th regional headquarters in Naha, Okinawa's capital, two Haijing ships entered Japanese waters from south-southwest of Minamikojima around 10:30 a.m., followed by two more Haijing ships around 10:45 a.m.

All four left the Japanese waters from east-southeast of the island by around 12:25 p.m. One of the vessels was equipped with what appeared to be a cannon, the regional headquarters said.

The Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea are claimed by China, where they are called Diaoyu.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]