The incidents, which China says are unrelated, have sparked new tensions between the two countries.
Japan’s Defense Ministry confirmed the incursion on Saturday, saying that around 6 a.m., the Chinese navy ship moved east into territorial waters west of Kuchinoerabu Island, located in the Tokara Strait southwest of the country’s four largest islands.
The Chinese Schuppan-class survey vessel remained in the area before leaving southwest of Yakushima Island at around 7:53 a.m.
A map released by the Defense Ministry shows the movement of the Chinese ship.
A map from the Japanese Defense Ministry showing the navigation path of a Chinese Navy research vessel. Ministry of Defense of Japan
In response, Namazu Hiroyuki, director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, said the ministry had “conveyed Japan’s serious concern and protest” to the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, highlighting “past activities by Chinese warships and others in the waters around Japan.”
Hiroyuki also noted the recent violation of Japanese airspace by a Chinese military spy plane last week.
Japan said a Chinese Y-9 intelligence plane briefly entered Japanese airspace near the Danjo Islands, southeast of Nagasaki. The plane remained in Japanese airspace for three minutes, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets in response.
Maps showed the plane’s flight path. While this is the first reported violation of Chinese airspace in Japan, Japan has already sent fighter jets more than 600 times between April 2023 and March 2024, mostly in response to Chinese military aircraft.
Map of the flight path of a Chinese Y-9 aircraft in Japanese airspace. Ministry of Defense of Japan
Although the rapid succession of the two incidents has raised concerns in Tokyo, China has said they are not linked.
Mao Ning, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said On Monday, the Tokara Strait “can be ensured for international navigation, and by sailing through the strait, the Chinese ship was exercising its right of transit passage, which is fully legal and legitimate,” citing the United Nations International Maritime Laws.
She added that there was “no need to arbitrarily link or interpret” the two incidents.
China and Japan are at a particularly sensitive moment in their relations as they try to resolve critical issues, such as Japan’s release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant last fall and rising tensions between Beijing and Taiwan.
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