The Japan Coast Guard confirmed Wednesday that four Chinese government ships were sailing within the contiguous zone of the Senkaku Islands in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, spotting such activities for 100 straight days.
The 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha made the confirmation. Chinese government ships have been spotted in the contiguous zone, which stretches about 22 kilometers outside territorial waters, for 100 consecutive days since April 14.
"We take it very seriously that such activities have continued," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference Wednesday.
Since the islands were nationalized in 2012, Japan has seen the lengthy period of China's continuous navigation in the contiguous zone continue to set a new record. For the past 100 days, Tokyo has protested to Beijing every day through diplomatic channels.
"Under the policy of firmly protecting our country's territory, territorial waters and airspace, we'd like to make every effort to maintain our vigilance and surveillance without easing our guard," Suga said.
"We will continue to respond calmly and resolutely," he added.
On the other hand, China brushed off Japan's protests. Asked about Chinese government vessels' repeated sailing in the contiguous zone, Wang Wenbin, a deputy director general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Information Department, said at a regular news conference on Wednesday: "The patrol and enforcement of law by the China Coast Guard vessels in the waters of Diaoyu Dao is China's inherent right. We do not accept Japan's so-called 'protest.'"
China calls the islands Diaoyu Dao.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
