In this photo released by Japan Maritime Safety Agency, a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat, foreground, sails by a Chinese vessel in waters off disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Japan Maritime Safety Agency)NAHA (Kyodo) -- Two Chinese fishery patrol boats briefly entered waters near the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands on Wednesday morning, the Japan Coast Guard said, triggering an immediate protest from Tokyo over the incident that could rekindle tension between the two countries.
Following the Chinese patrol boats' entry into the Japan-controlled waters, Vice Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae lodged a protest with China's Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news conference.
The Japanese government also set up a liaison office to gather more information on the incident and filed a protest with the Chinese Foreign Ministry through the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, according to Japanese officials.
Edano said Sasae summoned the Chinese envoy to "strongly protest" over the incident and stated Japan's basic position that "there is no doubt that the Senkaku Islands, historically and based on international law, are an integral part of Japanese territory."
Cheng told Sasae that he will relay the Japanese protest to Beijing but reiterated China's territorial claim to the disputed islands.
The Japanese vice foreign minister expressed deep regret over the incident, saying Tokyo cannot overlook the Chinese boats' entry into Japanese territorial waters as an innocent passage and requested that China prevent a recurrence, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
The top government spokesman called on China to exercise restraint, saying, "I would like to ask the Chinese side to take appropriate measures from a broad standpoint of (relations between) Japan and China."
Foreign Press Secretary Satoru Sato also urged Beijing to handle the matter appropriately in view of recent efforts to improve bilateral ties, such as China's aid to Japan after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the two governments' preparations for next year's 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties.
A Japanese patrol vessel from the regional coast guard headquarters in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, found the Chinese boats around 6:15 a.m., 30 to 33 kilometers north-northeast of Kuba Island in the Senkaku islet group.
When the Japanese patrol vessel issued a warning to the Chinese crew, they radioed back, saying, "Diaoyu (the Chinese name for the Senkakus) and its neighboring islands are China's indigenous territories. We are discharging our legitimate duties in Chinese waters," according to the coast guard.
The Chinese patrol boats remained in the territorial waters from 6:36 a.m. to 7:13 a.m. and then moved away before one of them reentered for seven minutes from 7:41 a.m.
They then traveled in the contiguous zone, defined by Japan in line with international law as an area where Japanese laws are applicable just outside its territorial waters, according to the coast guard.
It was the first time since December 2008 that Chinese government-related vessels have entered Japanese waters near the Senkaku Islands. At the time, two Chinese survey ships remained in the territorial waters for nine hours.
On Wednesday afternoon, Edano said the Chinese patrol boats were continuing to navigate in the contiguous zone on a clockwise course and that Tokyo will deal with the vessels based on the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The coast guard's regional headquarters later said the patrol boats had left the zone by around 5 p.m. and headed toward China.
Even though the Chinese vessels' presence in the contiguous zone was not illegal, Tokyo will consider taking some action depending on their movements, including a protest by Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, Japanese officials said.
The U.N. convention stipulates that the passage of foreign vessels in territorial waters cannot be considered innocent if they engage in activities that threaten the sovereignty of the coastal state or acts of propaganda aimed at affecting the defense or security of that state.
In September last year, tensions flared up between Japan and China over the disputed islands when a private Chinese fishing boat collided with Japanese patrol vessels near the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.
Edano said since that incident, Chinese vessels have approached the Senkaku Islands on 11 occasions, but without entering Japan's territorial waters.
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