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By Micah McCartney
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Japan has expelled a Chinese oceanographic survey vessel found to be operating within its maritime zone, the U.S. ally's coast guard said Sunday.
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese and Japanese foreign ministries via emailed requests for comment.
Why It Matters
Tokyo and other countries in the region have protested the presence of Chinese coast guard and research vessels within their exclusive economic zones—where, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, only the coastal state may exploit resources or conduct scientific research.
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Japan is also locked in a maritime dispute with China over the Senkaku Islands, an uninhabited island group in the East China Sea administered by Tokyo and claimed by Beijing as the Diaoyu Islands. China has increased coast guard patrols in these waters, which studies have suggested may be rich in oil and natural gas reserves.
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What To Know
At approximately 6:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, the Chinese oceanographic survey ship Hai Ke 001 was operating about 140 miles north-northeast of Taisho Island in the Senkaku Islands, Jiji Press cited Japan's cost guard as saying.
A coast guard patrol vessel observed the Hai Ke 001 lowering a "pipe-like object" into the water. After the Japanese vessel issued a radio warning ordering the activity to cease, the Chinese ship sailed away and, by around 1:20 p.m., had crossed the median line separating the two countries.
The median line—proposed by Japan as an invisible maritime boundary equidistant between the two countries' exclusive economic zones—is not recognized by China and remains a point of contention in their territorial dispute.
China's Foreign Ministry reiterated its sovereignty claim over the Senkaku Islands—known in China as the Diaoyu Islands—when asked about the incident during its regular press conference on Monday.
The maritime encounter came three days after China's coast guard said it drove away a Japanese fishing boat that "illegally entered" the Diaoyu Islands' territorial waters.
Japan's defense ministry said it had scrambled fighter jets and patrol ships after four Chinese coast guard vessels sailed into the Senkakus' 12-nautical-mile territorial waters. A helicopter that took off from one of the Chinese ships was reported to have entered Japanese airspace.
China later claimed that a Japanese civilian aircraft had entered airspace over the Senkakus, prompting it to dispatch a helicopter to drive the plane away.
What People Have Said
Lin Jian, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson told reporters Monday: "The Diaoyu Islands are China's inherent territory. The activities of China's oceanographic research vessels in the relevant waters are entirely within the scope of China's sovereign rights."
What Happens Next
The Senkaku Islands and surrounding waters are likely to remain a source of friction between the two countries.
China, which operates more than twice as many coast guard vessels over 1,000 tons in displacement as Japan, is expected to continue using the muscular agency to press its claim over the area.
U.S. officials have repeatedly affirmed the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty applies to the Senkakus. While Japan's so far measured handling of the dispute makes a direct military conflict unlikely, China's increasingly assertive regional posture in the region—including military threats against Taiwan—is driving Tokyo's ongoing expansion of its defense capabilities.
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