Japan Coast Guard officials say 3 Chinese patrol ships entered Japanese territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea for about 2 hours on Monday.
The officials say the vessels entered the waters off the island of Uotsuri just after 10AM. They navigated in the area for about two hours before moving to the adjacent contiguous zone. The officials are warning the Chinese vessels to stay away from the waters, according to Japan's (NHK WORLD) website.
Chinese government ships last entered the Japanese territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands on March 22nd. This is the 9th day this year that entries have been identified.
Japan controls the Senkaku Islands. China and Taiwan claim them. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory, in terms of history and international law. It says there is no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them.
A senior official of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Makita Shimokawa, lodged a protest by phone with the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on Monday morning.
Shimokawa demanded the vessels to leave the Japanese territorial waters immediately. He said the Chinese ships' entry into Japan's territorial waters is extremely regrettable.