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Photo taken by Ishigaki Municipal Assembly member Hitoshi Nakama on Feb. 15, 2021 shows a Japanese Coast Guard vessel (R) walking alongside a Chinese coastguard vessel near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Photo/kyodo/japan times
BEIJING – China’s coast guard said they chased five Japanese ships from the waters surrounding a disputed group of islands in the East China Sea on Monday (30/1/2023).
“The Chinese maritime police vessel acted within the law and took necessary measures, issued a warning and drove away (the vessel),” the coast guard said on social media.
China has urged Japan to refrain from illegal action near the islands, which both countries claim.
The contested islands lie east of Taiwan and are administered by Japan, which calls them the Senkaku Islands. China refers to them as the Diaoyu Islands.
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Japan has claimed sovereignty over the islands since 1895, while China argues they are marked as Chinese territory on Japanese maps dated 1783 and 1785.
The United States took control of the islands during World War II and turned them over to Japan in 1972.
China says the islands were illegally captured by Japan, while Japan claims China was only interested in them after shale oil was found under the seabed.
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