Chinese Coast Guard ships sailed through waters surrounding disputed islands on Sunday, a move that comes during a period of high tension between China and Japan over comments about Taiwan.
The islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, are controlled by Japan but claimed by Beijing.
The incident follows recent remarks from Japan’s Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, who suggested Japan might respond militarily if China were to attack Taiwan. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, reacted angrily. Its consul general in Osaka stated that the “dirty head that sticks itself out must be cut off,” which prompted a formal diplomatic complaint from Tokyo.
In response to the prime minister’s comments, China also summoned the Japanese ambassador and issued a travel warning on Friday, advising its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan. On Saturday, three Chinese airlines began offering free refunds or changes for tickets to Japan.
China’s Coast Guard described Sunday’s patrol as a “lawful patrol operation… to uphold its rights and interests.”
Taiwan, a self-governed democracy, has long resisted Beijing’s threats of military action. Taiwanese authorities maintain that only the island’s people should decide their future. Prime Minister Takaichi’s public comments mark a notable shift from Japan’s traditional stance of “strategic ambiguity,” in which leaders typically avoid public discussion of such military scenarios and state only that the dispute must be resolved peacefully.
