China performs maritime patrol around disputed islands with Japan

Uthe formation of ships of the China Coast Guard (CCG) held on Saturday a “patrol” in the vicinity of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, an archipelago administered by Japan and whose sovereignty is claimed by Beijing, official sources of the Asian giant reported.

In a statement, the CCG indicated that the fleet, led by the Xiamen ship, began on October 10 a “rights defense patrol in the territorial waters” of the Senkaku Islands, known in China as Diaoyu.

“This is a rights defense patrol carried out by the China Coast Guard in accordance with the law,” the maritime authority pointed out, without providing further details about the operation.

The CCG has repeatedly stressed that Chinese coastal guards will continue to develop “law enforcement activities” around the Senkaku Islands to protect sovereignty in waters that Beijing considers to be under its jurisdiction.

The dispute over this archipelago, which Japan won during the war with China between 1894 and 1895, has intensified in recent years, especially since Tokyo nationalized three of these islands in September 2012.

For Japan, the Senkaku Islands belong to Okinawa Prefecture, while China claims them as a “historical and inherent” part of its territory.

Situated in the East China Sea, about 150 kilometres northeast of Taiwan, these uninhabited islands occupy an area of about seven square kilometres, and it is believed that the surrounding waters have important deposits of gas and oil.

This last “patrol” occurred in a context of diplomatic friction between Beijing and Tokyo, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated in November last year that a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan could justify the intervention of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces.