Chinese vessel incursion leads Japan to issue formal protest

Japan's Ministry of Defence reported on Saturday that a Chinese research vessel entered Japanese territorial waters near the Osumi Islands. The Tokyo government lodged a formal protest with the Beijing authorities. Japanese media emphasised that this was the second intrusion this week.

The Chinese research unit was detected early in Greenwich Time in Japanese territorial waters west of Kuchinoerabu Island. The Japanese ministry said it left these waters after just under two hours near Yakushima Island.

It added that Japan's Self-Defence Forces, as Japan's armed forces are formally called, dispatched a minesweeper and patrol aircraft to monitor the Chinese vessel's movement.

Kyodo News Agency reported that this was the 10th incursion by a Chinese research ship into Japanese waters near islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture since November 2021. According to Kyodo, such ships are often used for bathymetric surveys and submarine navigation.

The Japanese news agency reminded that on Monday, for the first time, a violation of Japanese airspace over the East China Sea by a Chinese military aircraft was confirmed. According to Tokyo authorities, it was a spy aircraft.

In recent years, the Japanese government has repeatedly expressed concern over China's increasing military activity in surrounding seas. In response to these concerns, Tokyo announced plans last year for the largest armaments build-up since the end of World War II.