Four Chinese government vessels entered Friday the waters of the disputed islands administered by Japan but claimed by China, the Japanese coast guard announced.
These maritime surveillance ships went around 11:30 local time (4.30 GMT) in the 22 kilometers area surrounding the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea (called Diaoyu by Beijing), the Japanese coast guard said.
They have been spotted near the island Uotsuri, the main island of this small archipelago that caused a serious deterioration in relations between Beijing and Tokyo over the last two months.
Tension rose in early September, after the Japanese government decided to purchase more of these islands from the Japanese private owner.
Immediately, Beijing decided to send six ships to the islands, while in China anti-Japan demonstrations have taken place for a week, sometimes violent, with the tacit approval of the authorities.
These demonstrations attended by tens of thousands of people in dozens of cities, including Beijing, until mid-September, were causing major Japanese groups, especially in the automotive sector, to temporarily stop production in China.
Since then, maritime surveillance vessels and Chinese fishing ships came several times in the waters of these islands, as coastguard vessels from Taiwan have entered the area. Taiwan also claims this small group of islands.
Besides serious economic repercussions for Japanese firms, the conflict escalated into a real diplomatic crisis.
Thus, in early October, Beijing has decided not to send the finance minister and central bank governor to the IMF summit held in Tokyo.
Also, at the end of September, China has “suspended” (actually it canceled) events that were supposed to mark the anniversary of 40 years since the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
On the day these events were supposed to take place, September 29, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi accused Japan from the UN stage that it “stole” the islands.
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