China sends patrol boats to disputed Senkaku Islands

China sends patrol boats to disputed Senkaku Islands. September. 12, 2012 03:41. koh@donga.com lovesong@donga.com.

After declaring the Senkaku Islands (called Diaoyu in Chinese) as the starting point of its territorial waters, China has deployed maritime patrol boats to flex its muscles. Japan issued a special alert for its Self-Defense Force amid rising bilateral tension.

According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday, the 1,000 ton-class patrol boats Haijian 46 and Haijian 49 from the China Marine Surveillance arrived in waters near the islands. The vessels reportedly departed Ningbo in Zhejiang Province timed with Japan’s nationalization of Senkaku and have stayed in waters near the islands.

The Chinese maritime authority said, “A plan has been prepared to protect our territorial sovereignty, and we will put it into practice depending on the situation." The agency will also provide weather forecasts for waters around the disputed islands.

The Japanese government in a Cabinet meeting Tuesday decided to spend 2.05 billion yen (26 million U.S. dollars) from its state reserve budget this year to purchase three of the Senkaku Islands. Officials held talks with the owners of the three islands and formally signed contracts.

Chief Cabinet Minister Osamu Fujimura told a news conference, “The nationalization of the Senkaku Islands is meant to transfer ownership of land that is part of Japanese territory to the state,” adding, “There is no issue that can pose a problem vis-à-vis another country.”

Taiwan has also protested Japan`s move. In a national security meeting Tuesday, t he Taiwanese Foreign Ministry recalled its envoy to Japan Shen Ssu-tsun. Taipei also plans to boycott a bilateral fisheries meeting scheduled for Oct. 3–5 in Tokyo.

The Taiwanese government claimed that in 1999, Taiwan declared areas around the islands as the starting point of its territorial waters and officially registered the Diaoyu Islands as a national asset in January 2004.