On Tuesday, July 16th, the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters of Japan announced that around 4 am local time, two Chinese coast guard ships successively entered the Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands (referred to as Diaoyu Islands by China) in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture. These ships were reported to be carrying devices suspected to be cannon installations.
As of 6:15 am on Tuesday morning, both ships were still sailing in the area. This marked the first time since last Thursday that Chinese vessels had entered Japanese territorial waters.
A patrol boat from the Japan Coast Guard issued a warning to the Chinese coast guard ships to leave the area.
Meanwhile, a 9.7-ton Japanese fishing boat was also navigating in the same waters.
The activities of the Chinese coast guard in the waters near Japan have become increasingly aggressive. According to Kyodo News, Chinese government vessels have been spotted around the Senkaku Islands for 208 consecutive days, setting a new record for the longest continuous presence since September 2012, as reported by the Japanese government.
Last Monday, the Japan Coast Guard reported that four Chinese coast guard ships had sailed continuously within 24 nautical miles of the Diaoyu Islands, with cannons displayed on their decks.
Data from the Global Fishing Watch website documented the typical deployment of Chinese coast guard ships. The information revealed that the vessel with identification number 2501, serving as the lead ship, sailed from the ports of Taizhou and Zhoushan in Zhejiang Province, China, before heading to the waters near the East China Sea islands, where it conducted patrols for a month.
Collin Koh, a researcher at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told the publication “Newsweek” that since China enacted the “Coast Guard Law” in 2021, authorizing the use of force by its crew, Chinese ships have intensified their harassment of Japanese vessels in these waters.
One notable occurrence over the weekend was the appearance of Chinese coast guard vessel No. 1109 near the Diaoyu Islands, which is a modified 1500-ton Type 056 corvette that was originally part of the Chinese navy.
Starting in 2021, the Chinese military transferred all 22 Type 056 corvettes to the coast guard. Beijing has also dispatched other modified Type 056 corvettes to the South China Sea, where they have been involved in multiple conflicts with the Philippines.