China justified the entry of its navy survey ship into Japan’s territorial waters off its southwestern islands over the weekend, saying Monday that the passage was “completely legitimate” and that the vessel was simply exercising its right of transit.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a press conference the sea area is used “for international navigation” according to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Earlier in the day, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tokyo has lodged a protest with Beijing over the incident Saturday and vowed that Japan will monitor Chinese military activities near the country.
Undated photo shows a Chinese navy survey ship, which sailed into Japan’s territorial waters off Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan. (Photo courtesy of the Japanese Defense Ministry)(Kyodo)
It marked the 10th entry by a Chinese survey ship into Japanese waters off Kagoshima Prefecture since November 2021.
The latest case came after Japan on Aug. 26 confirmed for the first time that a Chinese military spy plane violated Japanese airspace over waters in the East China Sea off islands in the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki.
Asked how Beijing explains the two recent incidents, Mao said there is no need to “deliberately associate or over-interpret” them. Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China’s military aircraft have “no intention to intrude into any country’s airspace.”
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