Beijing and Tokyo are offering sharply different versions of events following a confrontation Tuesday near a group of contested islands in the East China Sea.
The islands, which Japan calls the Senkaku Islands and China refers to as the Diaoyu Islands, are claimed by both nations. Over the years, the two countries have repeatedly faced off in the surrounding waters, sending patrol vessels and demanding the other side withdraw.
According to China’s Coast Guard, one of its vessels drove away a Japanese fishing boat that had allegedly entered the territorial waters of one of the disputed islands without permission.
Japan’s Coast Guard told a completely different story. In an official statement, Japanese authorities said they were the ones doing the expelling — intercepting and turning away two Chinese Coast Guard ships that had moved toward a Japanese fishing vessel carrying two crew members, and doing so before Tuesday morning.
Japan’s government maintained that Chinese vessels operating in the waters around the Senkaku Islands and claiming Chinese jurisdiction there are acting in violation of international law. Officials added that Japan would continue to handle such situations, in their words, “calmly and resolutely,” in accordance with both international and Japanese domestic law.
