On Thursday, the Chinese Ministry of Defense called on Japan to stop actions that harm regional peace and stability.
Beijing described Japan’s tendency to return to what it described as the “dangerous path of militarization.”
added The Chinese Ministry of Defense says Tokyo should be careful in its words and actions in matters of military security.
Accusations of violating maritime borders
The dispute between China and Japan over the small islands controlled by Japan in the East China Sea escalates again as they exchange accusations of violating maritime borders.
China says the islands belong to it and refuses to recognize Japan’s claim to the uninhabited chain, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.
Taiwan also claims the islands, which it calls the Diaoyutai, but has signed agreements with Japan allowing entry for its fishermen and is not actively involved in the dispute.
China routinely sends coast guard ships and aircraft into the waters and airspace around the islands to harass Japanese ships in the area, forcing Japan to quickly send its aircraft in response.
On Wednesday, a Chinese coast guard spokesman said that Chinese ships had “repelled some Japanese ships that illegally entered territorial waters.”
On Thursday, the Japanese Coast Guard reported that Chinese coast guard vessels were violating Japanese territorial waters around the islands, although it had repeatedly told them to leave and not approach Japanese fishing boats in the area.