Japan claims Chinese ships intrude on its territorial waters again

ANKARA (AA) - The Japanese coast guard claimed that Chinese ships with the largest cannon in the East China Sea intruded into its territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands for the second time on Friday.

Four Chinese coast guard ships, including the vessel, were detected in waters off Tokyo-controlled uninhabited islets claimed by Beijing, Kyodo News Agency reported, citing an unnamed Japan Coast Guard official.

Earlier, Japanese authorities said two ships entered the waters off Minamikojima island around 2:40 a.m. local time (1740GMT Thursday) after navigating in the contiguous zone just outside the territorial waters with two other Chinese government ships.

Two more Chinese ships entered Japanese territorial waters at 10:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT), one of which was armed with a 76-mm gun, according to the media outlet.

The Chinese ships returned after Japanese patrol vessels ordered them to leave their waters immediately, it added.

The incident occurred just a week after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for the first time in person at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization (APEC) Summit in Thailand.

Last week, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno criticized Beijing for violating international law and said Tokyo also lodged a protest with Beijing through diplomatic channels.

Beijing and Tokyo are at odds over Japan's Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims and refers to as the Diaoyu Islands.

* Writing by Islamuddin Sajid