Beijing rejects protest over patrol

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Tokyo objects to Chinese Coast Guard presence in waters off Diaoyu Islands

Beijing rejected a protest from Tokyo on Thursday over Chinese ships patrolling near the Diaoyu Islands, as four Chinese vessels made their longest stay in the area since tensions flared over the islands in September.

Japan said three Chinese coast guard vessels entered the waters on Wednesday morning and another joined them in the evening.

One of the four vessels left the area on Wednesday evening, but was soon replaced by another ship, the Japanese coast guard said. The ships withdrew at about noon on Thursday.

This stay was "much longer" than one of 14 hours made by Chinese vessels on Feb 4 and "set a new record", according to Japan's Kyodo News Agency.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference on Thursday that Japan had summoned an envoy from the Chinese embassy early in the day to protest strongly and demand that the ships leave immediately.

However, the Chinese embassy in Japan said on its website that at the meeting acting Ambassador Han Zhiqiang protested strongly "about Japanese right-wingers entering Chinese territorial waters".

Han demanded that all Japanese ships should leave the waters immediately and that similar incidents should be prevented, the embassy said.

The Chinese ships turned back Japanese vessels during their stay.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman told Agence France-Presse, "The Chinese side argued its ... position and said it could not accept Japan's protest."

Huang Dahui, head of the Center for East Asia Studies at Beijing-based Renmin University of China, said, "The move can be seen as a response to Japan's recent muscle-flexing, including the unveiling of Japan's biggest warship since World War II."

On Tuesday, Beijing voiced strong criticism after Japan unveiled this vessel - a $1.2 billion helicopter carrier.

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