Japan protests Chinese ships' entry into territorial waters, 1st after summit talks

TOKYO, Nov 25 (KUNA) -- Japan lodged a protest against China on Tuesday after three Chinese government ships entered Japanese territorial waters around a chain of disputed islands in the East China Sea.
The Foreign Ministry conveyed the protest over the telephone to the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, saying that the violation of territorial waters was extremely regrettable, according to the ministry. It also demanded the vessels to leave Japanese waters immediately.
The Japan Coast Guard said it spotted three Chinese Coast Guard vessels in the morning in sovereign waters off the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China and Taiwan. The coast guard warned the Chinese ships to leave the waters immediately, and they left after three hours.
It was the first incursion since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a summit meeting on Nov. 10 in a sign that Sino-Japanese relations may improve. It was their first bilateral summit since both Abe and Xi came to power two years ago. Chinese patrol ships last entered the Japanese territorial waters on November 3.
The small chain of uninhabited rocky islands, known as Diaoyu in China and Tiaoyutai in Taiwan, lie in rich fishing grounds and waters thought to contain large deposits of oil and natural gas. Relations between the world's second and third-largest economies have sharply deteriorated since Tokyo's nationalization of three of the five major islands in September 2012 through purchase from a private Japanese owner. (end) mk.hb