Disputed Islands: Japan says Chinese, Russian naval vessels enter contiguous zone near Senkakus

Japan’s Defense Ministry has disclosed that a Chinese and a Russian naval vessel were spotted just outside Japan’s territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on Monday.

The ministry says that at around 7:44 a.m., a Chinese frigate entered Japan’s contiguous zone southwest of Uotsuri Island. It left the zone about 6 minutes later.

It is the fourth time a Chinese naval vessel has been spotted entering Japan’s contiguous zone off the Senkaku Islands. The last entry was by a naval hospital ship in June 2018.

The ministry says that a Russian frigate also entered the contiguous zone off the Senkaku Islands shortly after 7 a.m. and navigated in the zone for over 1 hour.

Ministry officials are analyzing the aim of each of the vessels while continuing to monitor their movements.

The government lodged a protest with the Chinese government through diplomatic channels. It also called on the country to prevent a recurrence.

Japan controls the Senkaku Islands. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan’s territory. China and Taiwan equally lay claims to the pockets of islands in the East China sea.