[h=3]By YUKA HAYASHI and ELEANOR WARNOCK[/h]TOKYO—Tensions between Japan and China escalated Friday as an unusually large group of Chinese patrol ships entered Japanese territorial waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea, as Beijing tried to assert its sovereignty.
The provocative action came days after Tokyo announced plans to purchase three of the contested islands it controls from a Japanese private owner to keep them out of the hands of nationalist Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, who had intended to use the territory to further inflame the situation.
Associated PressA Chinese surveillance ship, front, and a Japan Coast Guard vessel near the disputed islands Friday morning.
While Tokyo's move was intended to calm Beijing, it instead drew an angry response from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, prompting Beijing to say it planned to send marine surveillance vessels toward the islands.
China's foreign ministry said the ships entered the waters Friday to conduct maritime surveillance and that Beijing was carrying out a mission of "law enforcement over its maritime rights."
Chinese patrol ships have repeatedly entered Japanese waters near the islands—known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China—over the past year. But the group of six vessels that entered Friday morning was the largest such mission ever, said a Japanese government spokesman. The chain has become a symbol of maritime rivalry between the two Asian powers.
The last time tensions flared over the islands in 2010, a smaller group of Chinese patrol ships neared, but never entered, the Japanese territorial waters.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters Friday his government would "take all possible measures" to ensure the security around the islands, said Kyodo News. Tokyo said it set up a special office at the prime minister office's crisis management center to deal with the situation and filed a formal protest to China's ambassador to Japan.
The Japanese coast guard said one of the boats entered Japanese waters around 6:18 am Tokyo time at about 22 kilometers, or 14 miles, north-northeast of Taisho island, one of the craggy islets that make up the chain. It was followed by a second boat two minutes later. Territorial waters are defined as the area within 12 nautical miles of a nation's mainland.
Four other vessels later followed into the waters, before the group sailed out to the area known as the contiguous zone.
The Japanese coast guard said it had warned the boats not to enter the waters after the first boat reached a distance of 44 kilometers, or 27 miles, from the islands earlier in the morning.
The growing friction between patrol ships from the two nations is unlikely to lead to an immediate military confrontation between the two nations with significant trade and economic ties. Both the naval forces of People's Liberation Army and Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force have kept their vessels far away from the disputed islands.
Still, the move comes as Japan and many other Asian nations are growing increasingly wary of China's growing territorial assertiveness around the region. Friday's show of force came on the eve of a planned Asian trip by U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who will visit both countries next week, part of the Pentagon's recalibration to rebalance its focus on Asia security. China's growing assertiveness in territorial disputes with Japan and other counters in the region will be high on Mr. Panetta's agenda during the trip.
The latest flare-up in territorial tensions came after Mr. Noda's government announced Monday plans to buy three of the Senkaku islands from a private Japanese owner. Japanese officials explained the action was aimed at preventing further deterioration in bilateral sentiment by ending a high-profile campaign by Mr. Ishihara, Tokyo's combative governor, to raise funds to buy the islands. Mr. Ishihara had talked about launching many high-visibility projects on the islands to cement Japan's claims, such as building ports. Mr. Noda's government has promised a more low-key management of the territory.
That explanation, however, didn't go over well in China. A number of private and official cultural exchange programs have been canceled, government officials have hinted at curbing purchase of Japanese goods, and anti-Japan rallies have spread to several cities in China.
"If some Chinese consumers want to express their views in a reasonable way, we think that's their right and we fully understand," China's vice minister of commerce, Jiang Zengwei, said at a Thursday press conference, referring to the island dispute.
The Japanese consulate in Shanghai issued a special warning Thursday to the city's 50,000-plus Japanese residents, citing several incidents where Japanese nationals became target of minor violence. In one, a group of several Japanese were attacked on a Shanghai street by someone shouting "Japanese." One person was injured after a bowl noodles was dumped on him and another person had eyeglasses smashed, according to a statement posted on the consulate's web site.
The Japanese government has called on Japanese residents and businesses based in China to use extra caution over the coming days, citing the possibility of violent anti-Japan protest rallies across China over the weekend around a key anniversary of Japan's occupation of China during the early part of last century.
Adding to Japan's diplomatic challenge, Tokyo must cope with the escalating tensions without its ambassador to China. Only two days after his appointment, ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya was rushed to the hospital, unconscious, after collapsing on a Tokyo street Thursday morning. Mr. Nishimiya remains in the hospital Friday, and a foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on the condition of the 60-year-old diplomat.
Write to Yuka Hayashi at [email protected] and Eleanor Warnockat [email protected]
A version of this article appeared September 14, 2012, on page A7 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: China Irks Japan With Patrol Ship Incursion.
The provocative action came days after Tokyo announced plans to purchase three of the contested islands it controls from a Japanese private owner to keep them out of the hands of nationalist Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, who had intended to use the territory to further inflame the situation.
Associated PressA Chinese surveillance ship, front, and a Japan Coast Guard vessel near the disputed islands Friday morning.
While Tokyo's move was intended to calm Beijing, it instead drew an angry response from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, prompting Beijing to say it planned to send marine surveillance vessels toward the islands.
China's foreign ministry said the ships entered the waters Friday to conduct maritime surveillance and that Beijing was carrying out a mission of "law enforcement over its maritime rights."
Chinese patrol ships have repeatedly entered Japanese waters near the islands—known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China—over the past year. But the group of six vessels that entered Friday morning was the largest such mission ever, said a Japanese government spokesman. The chain has become a symbol of maritime rivalry between the two Asian powers.
The last time tensions flared over the islands in 2010, a smaller group of Chinese patrol ships neared, but never entered, the Japanese territorial waters.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters Friday his government would "take all possible measures" to ensure the security around the islands, said Kyodo News. Tokyo said it set up a special office at the prime minister office's crisis management center to deal with the situation and filed a formal protest to China's ambassador to Japan.
The Japanese coast guard said one of the boats entered Japanese waters around 6:18 am Tokyo time at about 22 kilometers, or 14 miles, north-northeast of Taisho island, one of the craggy islets that make up the chain. It was followed by a second boat two minutes later. Territorial waters are defined as the area within 12 nautical miles of a nation's mainland.
Four other vessels later followed into the waters, before the group sailed out to the area known as the contiguous zone.
The Japanese coast guard said it had warned the boats not to enter the waters after the first boat reached a distance of 44 kilometers, or 27 miles, from the islands earlier in the morning.
The growing friction between patrol ships from the two nations is unlikely to lead to an immediate military confrontation between the two nations with significant trade and economic ties. Both the naval forces of People's Liberation Army and Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force have kept their vessels far away from the disputed islands.
Still, the move comes as Japan and many other Asian nations are growing increasingly wary of China's growing territorial assertiveness around the region. Friday's show of force came on the eve of a planned Asian trip by U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who will visit both countries next week, part of the Pentagon's recalibration to rebalance its focus on Asia security. China's growing assertiveness in territorial disputes with Japan and other counters in the region will be high on Mr. Panetta's agenda during the trip.
The latest flare-up in territorial tensions came after Mr. Noda's government announced Monday plans to buy three of the Senkaku islands from a private Japanese owner. Japanese officials explained the action was aimed at preventing further deterioration in bilateral sentiment by ending a high-profile campaign by Mr. Ishihara, Tokyo's combative governor, to raise funds to buy the islands. Mr. Ishihara had talked about launching many high-visibility projects on the islands to cement Japan's claims, such as building ports. Mr. Noda's government has promised a more low-key management of the territory.
That explanation, however, didn't go over well in China. A number of private and official cultural exchange programs have been canceled, government officials have hinted at curbing purchase of Japanese goods, and anti-Japan rallies have spread to several cities in China.
"If some Chinese consumers want to express their views in a reasonable way, we think that's their right and we fully understand," China's vice minister of commerce, Jiang Zengwei, said at a Thursday press conference, referring to the island dispute.
The Japanese consulate in Shanghai issued a special warning Thursday to the city's 50,000-plus Japanese residents, citing several incidents where Japanese nationals became target of minor violence. In one, a group of several Japanese were attacked on a Shanghai street by someone shouting "Japanese." One person was injured after a bowl noodles was dumped on him and another person had eyeglasses smashed, according to a statement posted on the consulate's web site.
The Japanese government has called on Japanese residents and businesses based in China to use extra caution over the coming days, citing the possibility of violent anti-Japan protest rallies across China over the weekend around a key anniversary of Japan's occupation of China during the early part of last century.
Adding to Japan's diplomatic challenge, Tokyo must cope with the escalating tensions without its ambassador to China. Only two days after his appointment, ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya was rushed to the hospital, unconscious, after collapsing on a Tokyo street Thursday morning. Mr. Nishimiya remains in the hospital Friday, and a foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on the condition of the 60-year-old diplomat.
Write to Yuka Hayashi at [email protected] and Eleanor Warnockat [email protected]
A version of this article appeared September 14, 2012, on page A7 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: China Irks Japan With Patrol Ship Incursion.