HONG KONG - Chinese and Japanese coast guard ships have faced off in waters around disputed islands in the East China Sea, both countries said on Tuesday.
China said it drove away several Japanese vessels that had “illegally” entered territorial waters on Monday around the islands, which it calls Diaoyu, and it urged Japan to stop all “illegal activities” in the area.
Japan controls the islands and calls them the Senkaku.
Japan’s coast guard said it ordered two Chinese coast guard vessels to leave the waters around the islands and manoeuvred its ships to prevent them from approaching Japanese fishing boats.
The uninhabited area has long been a sticking point in ties between the two countries.
In a related development, China’s foreign ministry said that a Canadian military plane intercepted in the same area on Monday had seriously violated Chinese sovereignty and national security.
“The Canadian jet ‘illegally’ entered airspace near Diaoyu Island on Oct 14,” a spokesperson for the ministry said on Tuesday.
The interception of a Canadian military plane by Chinese fighter jets over international waters on Monday was unacceptable, dangerous and reckless, Defence Minister Bill Blair said earlier.
A Canadian general criticised the Chinese air force over the incident, in which a fighter jet cut off the patrol plane and dropped flares in its path.
Canada said the 13-member crew of the plane was part of a UN mission aimed at enforcing sanctions against North Korea to encourage the country to end its nuclear weapons programme.
The missions, which include Japan, France and the US, are aimed at spotting “evasion activities, in particular ship-to-ship transfers of fuel and other commodities”, according to Ottawa.
The episode on Monday was reported by the Canadian TV network Global News, which had journalists on the aircraft. Chinese fighters also flew within 5 metres of the plane, it added.