adminTokyo — Chinese coast guard ships were spotted yesterday for the first time near disputed islands controlled by Japan following a reorganisation of the service to boost Beijing’s ability to enforce its maritime claims. Japan’s coast guard said four Chinese craft were seen early in the day just outside Japanese territorial waters around the tiny uninhabited East China Sea islands called Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by Japan.
Chinese websites ran photos reportedly taken by the Japanese coast guard showing a ship painted in the service’s new red, white and blue striped Chinese coast guard livery.
Along with its claims in the East China Sea, China has also frequently sparred with the Philippines and Vietnam over overlapping claims to parts of the South China Sea, another area to which the new coast guard is being deployed.
A Chinese coast guard ship was sighted recently at Mischief Reef off the western Philippine coast, according to a confidential Philippine government report obtained by The Associated Press. China occupied the vast reef in 1995, sparking fierce protests from rival claimant Manila.-—AP
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