TOKYO (Kyodo) — A Chinese navy research vessel entered Japanese territorial waters off the southwestern islands on Saturday, less than a week after Tokyo strongly protested a violation of its airspace by a Chinese warplane, Japan's Defense Ministry said.
The ministry said that Japan has again protested to China through diplomatic channels and expressed serious concern about the latest transition. It marked the 10th entry of a Chinese research vessel into Japanese waters near Kagoshima Prefecture since November 2021.
The ministry said the vessel entered the territorial waters west of Kuchinoerabu Island around 6 a.m. and left the waters southwest of Yakushima Island at around 7:53 a.m. The Maritime Self-Defense Force sent a minesweeper and a patrol plane to track the Chinese vessel.
Survey vessels are often used to conduct research on underwater topography for underwater navigation.
The latest incident comes after Japan confirmed for the first time on Monday that a Chinese military spy plane violated Japanese airspace over waters in the East China Sea near islands in the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki.
In recent years, Chinese ships have also repeatedly entered Japanese territorial waters in the East China Sea around the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which China claims and calls the Diaoyu.