China insists survey ship’s passage close to Japanese island was ‘completely legal’
Tokyo has lodged a protest over the incident in the Tokara Strait, which happened days after a Chinese military jet entered its airspace
China has confirmed that one of its naval surveying vessels sailed close to Japanese territory over the weekend, but insisted it was a “legal passage” through international waters.
Tokyo has expressed “strong concern” and lodged a protest with the Chinese embassy over the incident, which happened days after a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft entered Japanese airspace.
The Japanese defence ministry said the ship spent around two hours in the country’s territorial waters off the southwest of Kuchinoerabu, a small island in the Tokara Strait to the southwest of the country’s four biggest islands.
Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said on Monday there was “no need to deliberately link or over-interpret” the two incidents.
She said the ship “was exercising its rights of transit” and the passage was “completely legitimate and legal”.
“According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Tokara Strait is used for international navigation,” she said.
